BBC Proms. What's it like?

[Bruckner is God]

I am going to attend a concert in the Royal Albert Hall during the Proms this year.
It's my first time in the Royal Albert Hall and my first Proms-experience.
I have heard that these concerts are a little different form other concerts. The audience is different, it is a less formal inviroment, and applause between movements is common.
Is this true, or is it a myth?
Also how is the acoustic in the hall?
The concert I am attending is with the San Francisco Symphony/MTT, with Deborah Voight as soloist.
Can't wait to hear them in London 

[Mark]

I've been to a Proms concert every year for the past couple, and I'm going again this year (Prom 7 - July 18th).

Yes, the audience does sometimes clap after movements, though this (thankfully) didn't happen during my visits. As for the Royal Albert Hall, it doesn't feel as large as it looks on TV - but it's certainly a very tall building when you look up at the domed sound reflectors in the ceiling. The acoustic is so-so. From the Circle seating area, it can feel as though there's an invisible screen just in front of the performers, which seems to rob the mid-to-high notes of some of their impact. But it's not terrible, I assure you. I'll be sat in the Choir stalls this year, so I'll be overlooking the orchestra. I'm hoping this will make a difference for the better sonically.

Enjoy your first Prom.

[Bruckner is God]

Thank you!
My seat is the Grand Tier a littel to the left. How are these seats? It's in the most expensice section, so it should be good?

[Mark]

Wow! I can't speak for the sound in the posh seats, but I'm sure it'll be marvellous!

[AB68]

Proms concerts are definately less "formal" then most other classical concerts. Most people do not dress up to go to a prom concert.  It is a quite uniqe experience, especially the last night of the proms.
For more information on the Proms Festivals, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/abouttheproms/goingto.shtml

[Don Giovanni]

There is always quite a relaxed environment but it depends what is on the program. Last year I was at a performance of the Britten Requiem and, as I'm sure you will appreciate, it did not attract the largest crowd (less than half, if I remember correctly).

As far as acoustics go, I've always enjoyed myself sonically up in the boxes 

[pjme]

I've been to several Proms concerts over the years and enjoyed them every time. Big works go well in the Albert Hall : Messiaen's Turangalila, Mahler, Janacek....As a teenager I was deeply impressed by the Last Night ( broadcast on TV). Nowadays I find the formula quite stale and uninteresting.
Still, the Proms : a great series of concerts, possibly one of the better festivals in the world.

Enjoy!

Ps : sorry : no, Bruckner is not God! 

Peter

[Sergeant Rock]

Ps : sorry : no, Bruckner is not God! 

Peter

Heretic! Your soul is now in mortal danger, Peter. Better you should repent now and ask forgiveness...and play some Celibidache as penance 

Sarge

[pjme]

I'm not afraid !!! and have no plans to repent. 0:) Believ me, I do realise that Bruckner (and Wagner) are great composers - but I can live without them. There is enough music i can choose from to fill the rest of my life and keep me curious & busy.

My only Celebidache disc is his own "Taschengarten".( love it)

There is no composer I would call a "god" - there are composers that help me "pray" & "think" - but "gods"...? No!

I'll slaughter a cow for Baal and Moloch tonight, burn a fire for Astarte and  Huitzilopochtli.....Grrrrr!



Peter

[Bonehelm]

Go on the last night if you can. Here's a video of what it's like there. Last night with Andrew Davis..probably the best version of P&C march No.1 I've ever heard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU8fK7PV_c0&mode=related&search=

Enjoy 

[knight66]

There are usually a lot of prommers who stand through the entire performance in what would normally be the stalls area. I was at a concert performance of Les Troyens, both parts on the same day. Some hundreds stood silently and still through the whole concert.

There is usually a real buzz in the arena.

Mike

[Mark]

To get tickets for the Last Night, you need to have bought tickets for at least six other Proms concerts.

[Harry]

Peter is correct, Bruckner is not God, and if you want to burn me for that, please be my guest. 0:)

[Philoctetes]

Proms concerts are definately less "formal" then most other classical concerts. Most people do not dress up to go to a prom concert.  It is a quite uniqe experience, especially the last night of the proms.
For more information on the Proms Festivals, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/abouttheproms/goingto.shtml

A bit off the topic, but people dress up to go to Classical Concerts?

[Bonehelm]

A bit off the topic, but people dress up to go to Classical Concerts?

YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO A CLASSICAL CONCERT BEFORE???

[Novi]

I've been to a Proms concert every year for the past couple, and I'm going again this year (Prom 7 - July 18th).

Yes, the audience does sometimes clap after movements, though this (thankfully) didn't happen during my visits. As for the Royal Albert Hall, it doesn't feel as large as it looks on TV - but it's certainly a very tall building when you look up at the domed sound reflectors in the ceiling. The acoustic is so-so. From the Circle seating area, it can feel as though there's an invisible screen just in front of the performers, which seems to rob the mid-to-high notes of some of their impact. But it's not terrible, I assure you. I'll be sat in the Choir stalls this year, so I'll be overlooking the orchestra. I'm hoping this will make a difference for the better sonically.

Enjoy your first Prom.

Sadly, if you're very impoverished and can only get the cheapest of the cheap seats, the sound can be quite terrible.

I've only been to the RAH once, not for the Proms, but for Mahler 8 last year. I wasn't only 'up in the gods,' I was Zeus almighty: the last row in the auditorium, smack bang in the centre. Teehee, Bruckner is not god, I am .

The orchestra sound was thin (from up there) and when the organ came in, it blotted everyone else out . It was really disappointing as I'd been looking forward to hearing it live. Incidentally, anyone suffering from vertigo should avoid these seats.

But B is God, I see that you've got a posh seat so that's a different story . Coincidentally, I'm going to the same concert when they come up to Edinburgh. Is it Mahler 7 and Voight in Salome? We'll have to compare notes!

Hey Mark, what are you seeing?

[Mark]

Hey Mark, what are you seeing?

Kurt Masur's 80th birthday bash: Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings followed by Bruckner's Seventh Symphony.

[Bruckner is God]

[But B is God, I see that you've got a posh seat so that's a different story .

Coincidentally, I'm going to the same concert when they come up to Edinburgh. Is it Mahler 7 and Voight in Salome? We'll have to compare notes!

It's not Mahler. The programme is Ives' third symphony, The Salome with Voight and Shostakovich' fifth.
They are playing Mahler the next day, but I have to go back home that morning so I will miss it... but  doesn't matter since I am not a big fan of MTT's Mahler anyway...

[Philoctetes]

YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO A CLASSICAL CONCERT BEFORE???

No, I have, I just never dress up for them.

[Bonehelm]

No, I have, I just never dress up for them.

wtf...So I suppose you wear pajamas to weddings.