tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post1834393300609419563..comments2024-03-28T22:50:02.315+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: Royal Albert Hall or The Proms - which came first?Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-46851132385979187542014-09-02T00:52:31.498+10:002014-09-02T00:52:31.498+10:00Jane and Lance
it really IS a highly charged atmo...Jane and Lance<br /><br />it really IS a highly charged atmosphere with a great sense of delight, created by a special combination of architecture, conductor, group of musicians, colour, crowds and national excitement.<br /><br />I am very pleased the musical talent comes from a wide range of cities, including Budapest of course. So let me brag about Melbourne for a second :)<br />"The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra makes its Proms debut under its Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis. Passion and despair, love and death, all feature in a programme that roams from the dark fantasy of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique to the soaring ecstasy of Strauss’s Don Juan, while Elgar’s Cello Concerto adds more delicate shades of melancholy and yearning".<br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-1496978541283816232014-09-02T00:45:06.142+10:002014-09-02T00:45:06.142+10:00Parnassus
I often wonder what makes one musical (...Parnassus<br /><br />I often wonder what makes one musical (or literary, artistic or theatrical) programme last for a very long time whereas many fade within a few years. Henry Wood was clearly the right man for the right time in 1895, followed by exceptionally gifted Prom conductors in the decades that followed.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-79987652382562119982014-09-01T18:52:53.211+10:002014-09-01T18:52:53.211+10:00Hello Helen,
In days gone by when we lived closer...Hello Helen,<br /><br />In days gone by when we lived closer, the Proms were a summer pilgrimage for us. We would sit in the gods for next to no money and enjoy the most sublime of music. It is a highly charged atmosphere with a great sense of delight, a wonderful institution we feel.<br /><br />This year, the Budapest Festival Orchestra played at the Proms to great acclaim.Jane and Lance Hattatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831890261259302647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-2351006285779757752014-09-01T18:06:21.942+10:002014-09-01T18:06:21.942+10:00Hello Hels, Although Henry Wood's name is per...Hello Hels, Although Henry Wood's name is permanently linked with the Prom concerts, when exploring late 19th century music one constantly reads about him, often as accompanist or conductor to the greatest musicians of that era. He thus was the exact person to raise the Proms to such a high standard.<br />--Jim Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-67052137049909565202014-08-31T01:33:32.703+10:002014-08-31T01:33:32.703+10:00Music Fan
Good choices!
If money was no object, ...Music Fan<br /><br />Good choices!<br /><br />If money was no object, I would get the best seats in the house for The Berlin Philharmonic next week. Their first concert will be Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances and Stravinsky's Firebird (5th Sept) and the second will be Bach's St Matthew Passion (6th Sept).Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-57539554360499008802014-08-30T21:46:40.141+10:002014-08-30T21:46:40.141+10:00There are two programmes I would have liked to att...There are two programmes I would have liked to attend - Battle of the 1930s Bands, and Barenboim playing Mozart and Ravel's Spanish Music. But the tickets are not cheap, except for day tickets.Music Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-10172914708636288052014-08-30T12:28:19.794+10:002014-08-30T12:28:19.794+10:00elegancemaison
*nod* nationalism is often such a ...elegancemaison<br /><br />*nod* nationalism is often such a divisive and destructive emotion. And I don't just mean Nazi torch light parades with millions of people.<br /><br />But until you mentioned it, I had not read any critiques of the Last Night of the Proms over the last few years eg "The Last Night of the Proms is perhaps the most offensive display of patriotism. It is a jingoistic and unabashed celebration of the white, metropolitan bourgeoisie." <br /><br />What a shame. The excitement that comes from loved rousing music, large crowds and heaps of colour is a rare and special thing in our lives. Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-87003521222231828632014-08-30T12:08:14.787+10:002014-08-30T12:08:14.787+10:00Andrew
Did you get into the Hall for a tour, even...Andrew<br /><br />Did you get into the Hall for a tour, even if there was no concert or other event going on inside? I know what it is like, having limited time in a big city. You always have to make choices about what to see and what to miss.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-71952743425636289282014-08-30T08:27:44.435+10:002014-08-30T08:27:44.435+10:00I have been a promenader in the long distant past ...I have been a promenader in the long distant past (!) though not to a Last Night as tickets are so hard to obtain. However I love the last night of the proms and usually watch it live in front of the TV. Yes - singing along to the tunes and songs I have known and loved since childhood but so rarely heard these days on any other occasion. But sadly in the last few years the programme has omitted Henry Wood's rousing 20th century "Fantasia on Sea Songs" with the wonderful hornpipe that the promenaders bobbed up and down to as it got faster and faster. Apparently this was done in order to "tone down the nationalism" of the last night. Instead we have Ansell's 19th century simpering "Plymouth Hoe". My children who all live on the other side of the world also love to watch the proms, but despair with me.elegancemaisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10043236515999573762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-29466149671033181962014-08-30T08:10:04.088+10:002014-08-30T08:10:04.088+10:00In 2005 we were on our way to, I think, the Natura...In 2005 we were on our way to, I think, the Natural History Museum. Look, there is an impressive 'thing', which was of course the Albert Memorial. Slowly it dawned on us that the big round building was Royal Albert Hall. <br /><br />A very interesting bite of its history, thanks, but no thanks for the two pieces of music that will be running around my head today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com