Proms

yes, 1991. it's such a long time ago. probably one of the best things about living in london. i wish i could be there.

btw. those standing in the arena/balcony felt sorry for those having paid so much more for having not so nice places. :-)

Thorsten,

It is cetainly one of the privelges of living in London, That I will probably only get tot eh proms twice this year is rather depressing, maybe I will squeeze a couple of performances before I depart on hols.

Promenading is good fun and it is great being near the performers but I've done 3 hours standing and the novelty soon wears off, I prefer a seat (the stalls are really rather nice).

the wimp

Matthew

Great concert wasn't it!

I stood all the way through. You have to build up to these things. If the programmers are sympathetic they don't put in a marathon too early in the season. Guerrelieder last Sunday at 120 minutes without interval was a tester I must admit. Standing is good for the concentration and about 5-8 rows back is probably the best sound in the Hall. I'll keep promming even though I can now afford seats, atleast until arthritis gets the better of me.

duncan

The Royal Albert Hall tends to get bashed for having a crap acoustic, and for most of the hall it's true. If you get standing room in front of the fountain, the sound is one of the best around. One of the reasons I used to get a season ticket was so that I could guarantee getting to these places. Being 6ft 5' helps as well. The down side is that standing that close gets you in close contact with the weird (by just about any definition) bunch that go to every concert.

This is meant as a serious question because it's bothered me for many years:

Is there any specific reason why grown men bring teddy bears with them ?

It's really not that important. I'm just....curious.

Regards,

Brian Bear

Brian OReilly

Duncan

My hat off to you.

I'm 6'3 so armpit views aren't a problem, I took someone who was 5'1 and it would have cruel to put them through that. The sound in the stalls is very good as well, having spent most of my time up in the circles my view of the Albert Hall is not great, but from stage level it is very good.

Matthew

quote:

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gets you in close contact with the weird (by just about any definition) bunch that go to every concert

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david,

are they any weirder than this crowd here? if so, why?

I watched one of the TV replays the other day, the enjoyment ws destroyed by the continuous camera and view changes - at one point the camera immediately in front of the prommers was pointing directly up the nose of the solo singer - on another occasion a view of the pianists hands from below. Much too distracting.

I was not impressed by the link man either, or the cutaways to celebs saying how much a specific bit of music means for them.

It is suppose to be a music concert - not light entertainment for "Hello culture" people with the attention span of a moth.

Given the wonders of digital and interactive TV - why cannot they provide a selection of camera views for the viewer to select - eg Violins, Brass, Percusion, conductor, soloists

Bah Humbug etc

Back to the radio for the next concert

Derek

Thorsten,

The hard core season ticket prommers make the Naim forum look like a very normal bunch. There was a good documentary a few years ago on the BBC called 'The Line' about them. The title refers to the line that is stuck to floor every year to separate the season ticket prommers from the day ticket prommers. It's quite funny to watch an unsuspecting day prommer get a sound telling off when they breach the line, but in the end they are probably responsible for putting many people off attending a concert again.

Derek, I fully sympathise with you. The new link man (apparently a conductor) who presented a dreadful documentary on Vivaldi a few days earlier seems to have been trained in TV presenting by Timmy Mallet.

David

david,

i had a half season ticket for the balcony only (due to financial restrictions) so never saw anything like that happen. but i feel that in this forum you can see people drawing lines and telling people off quite regularly, too.

one time, in another year, i stood first row in the arena to listen to sinopoli with a day-prommer ticket. nobody got offensive. it was a bad place for listening. far too much violins.

Thorsten,

Sounds like you were placed to the left on the day prommers side. Now had you pushed to the front on the right hand side, the results may have been different.

David

david,

you're absolutely right. ts, ts. lucky me, i did not try to get onto the other side. might have forced me to rethink my image of the ever polite british citizen.