Last of our Proms 2012

This was the night of the penultimate concert of this year's Proms. It couldn't have been a better day with clear blue skies and warm evening temperatures tempting everyone out. We began with an early dinner at Carluccios which ended with coffee profiteroles with chocolate and hazelnut sauce - really delicious. We walked up the road, enjoying the warm evening and entered by door 4 to find our seats in the circle with this precipitous view. There were plenty of promenaders queuing for seats this evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concert, Prom no.75, was given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink, a conductor we have seen many times. The programme was:

Haydn                         Symphony No. 104 in D major, 'London'

R. Strauss                   An Alpine Symphony

The last piece has no specific movements, but takes us through a day in the Bavarian Alps. It begins with a spectacular sunrise and so on through the day with cowbells and tinkling streams, waterfalls and meadows. A storm blows up and suddenly there is thunder rolling across the landscape as the wind and thunder machines are brought in. The storm abates, the sunsets and night falls. It involves a huge orchestra with plenty of wind and percussion and a full complement of strings. It was a great performance and the audience really enjoyed it.

We were treated to an encore, which was Johann Strauss II's waltz Voices of Spring. A jolly finale to a wonderful concert and our visit to the Proms 2012.

Proms 2012

Tonight was our first visit to the Proms this year, although they are almost over by now! We found ourselves almost sitting in the orchestra, which was very interesting, giving us a close-up view of conductor Vasily Petrenko. This was Prom 54 and the programme was:

• Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

  Symphony No.9 (25 mins)
  London Premiere

• Delius

  Violin Concerto (25 mins)

• Shostakovich

  Symphony No. 10 in E minor (45 mins)

• Tasmin Little violin
• Vasily Petrenko conductor
• Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

The Davies was very modern; Tasmin Little played Delius beautifully; and after the interval we really enjoyed Shostakovitch's 10th. Vasily Petrenko coaxed some great tone out of the Liverpool Phil whose soloists were terrific.