For more than 100 years, the world’s best musicians, orchestras and conductors have raised the roof at London’s foremost classical pageant. Riddle waves the flag for The Proms.
Article by Coriander Stuttard
Each evening at around 6.30pm, for the bulk of the summer months, a bit of a buzz begins to emerge near the Albert Memorial in London’s Kensington Gardens. This is the BBC Proms season, and an hour or so before each concert begins, the glasses start clinking, the picnic baskets start rustling and excited chatter between friends starts to increase in volume.
Step over the road to the Royal Albert Hall and the buzz goes up a notch. Front of house, people are eating and drinking at some of the bars in the hall, and the ‘Prommers’ – people who pay just £5 for a ticket to stand – wait to pounce on their preferred spot in either the arena or the gallery as soon as the doors open. Inside, the radio crew for BBC Radio 3 are going over the scripts for the live broadcast, brass players are warming up and a stage manager is making a final adjustment on the stage.
It’s a tradition that has been going for 120 years, based on the idea of bringing both well-known and adventurous music, performed at the highest standards, to the widest possible audience. As soon as you step into the Hall, its grand red and gold decor mingling with the distinctly more 21st century Proms branding and lighting to create an array of colours, you get instantly swept into the festival atmosphere.
The world’s greatest orchestras, soloists and conductors jump at the chance of an invitation to the Proms. There is always a celebration of a composer’s anniversary, and various themes run through each season. You might see a conductor perform his last concert with an orchestra, but also hear a young up-and-coming soloist. You might hear a world premiere of a more outré piece in the same concert as some medieval plainchant.
THE PROMS IN NUMBERS
120 The number of Proms seasons which have now taken place, since impresario Robert Newman - manager of the newly built Queen’s Hall in London – held the inaugural one on 10 August 1895.
Five The cost of a ticket for a single evening at the first ever staging of “Mr Robert Newman’s Promenade Concerts”.
Zero The number of matches struck during choral performances in the early years – this was banned, although smoking in general – along with eating and drinking - were permissible.
Four The number of weeks the 1940 proms lasted, due to the intensification of air-raids on the capital. The following year, on 10 May 1941, a Luftwaffe bombardment gutted the Queen’s Hall – hence the move to the Royal Albert Hall.
44 The number of years since the first ever performance by a chart act – Canterbury based progressive rock hipsters Soft Machine.
Ninth The Beethoven symphony chosen as a melody by protestors outside the Royal Albert Hall chanting “Free Palestine”, in response to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s involvement with the 2011 Proms.
Or this season, you might have seen the Pet Shop Boys. The Proms programme is always diverse and, whilst being classical-music based, has more recently been exploring some wider collaborations and musical roots from elsewhere, particularly in the Late Night Proms (which usually start at 10.15pm). In September, as well as Pet Shop Boys, late-romantic Czech composer Gustav Mahler symphony, American broodingminimalist composer John Adams and a particularly jazzy Paloma Faith all made the programme.
As soon as you step into the Hall, you get instantly swept into the festival atmosphere.
The famous Last Night - with all its flag-waving and rousing versions of Rule Britannia and Pomp and Circumstance - features concerts outside of the hall – it’s too late get tickets to be inside now, but you can go along to one of the Proms In The Park concerts. And remember: this year may prove the last change to hear those anthems as a four-country United Kingdom.
To guarantee a seat, it’s best to book in advance. Each concert is priced differently and depending on where you sit in the hall - and the prices can be vastly different. For a bird’s eye view, you can climb the stairs to the high circle, where you can bag a seat from £7.50 (or £12 without the restricted view). If you are feeling more lavish, you could treat yourself to the stalls, where prices range from £30 - £87.50 - you’ll get a great view.
If you intend to sit at the sides in the stalls, you might want to think about which side of the orchestra you want to hear most, or for a more balanced sound and view, try to get directly opposite the stage. For a more unusual experience, you might like to try booking seats in the ‘choir’, the rows of seats behind the orchestra (assuming there’s no choir performing that night). There, you can experience the concert as if you are sitting in the orchestra – you’ll see the backs of the players but the front of the conductor, and of course you get to look out at the audience around the hall.
For those who want to know what ‘promming’ is about, be prepared to get there early. Some concerts, especially sold out ones, see the queue to buy a £5 ticket begin soon after breakfast, and snake its way along the balustrades at the back of the Albert Hall by just before showtime. Usually, though, you could hope to get a ticket to ‘prom’ if you turn up an hour and a half in advance – handy for those coming just after work – as they keep 500 tickets back for the day. You’ll definitely experience something of the jovial atmosphere, as it becomes quite a community – some even share around their picnics. In fact, seasoned attendees should try being a ‘Prommer’ at least once.
However you go about attending, the biggest swell of anticipation comes just before the concerts start, when a group of regulars will call for quiet, relaying a message through the audience and right up to the gallery. For seasoned classical music lovers, the Proms offer the chance to experience premieres, well-worn classics and emerging performing talent. For newcomers to the scene, it’s the chance to have a unique evening, to open your ears to a huge variety of music and to feed the soul with one of the most rousing atmospheres you’ll ever encounter in the performance arts 