The Last Night of the Proms, BBC One: The Twitter Review

The hope and the glory (and the bobbing): part two as it unfolded

Part 2 @bbcproms. The madness begins. Ms Derham has not switched gowns in the interval. No sign of Titchmarsh, for which we must give thanks.

The "traditional" necklace of laurels for Sir Henry Wood's bust. Wonder if he'd welcome his head being polished by a pink rag.

How do they pick these pieces? Apols but the Marche joyeuse did not fill this tweeter with joy. On the other hand, here's Renée plus a mike.

The Art of Conducting 2010

TAD AT 5 AT THE PROMS: THE ART OF CONDUCTING 2010 First of resident photographer Chris Christodoulou's galleries capturing stick-wavers in full flight

Maestros in full flight are unwittingly entertaining, as Chris Christodoulou's photos show

Chris Christodoulou has been honing his focus on conductors in past Proms seasons to wonderful effect, but this year has produced a galaxy of master portraits that outdoes even the immortal cartoons of Gerard Hoffnung in entertainment value. We’ve featured many of them throughout our reviews of two months of Proms. Here Chris makes his selection of favourites. Click on a picture to enter the slideshow. All pictures © Chris Christodoulou. 

Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner, Royal Albert Hall

John Eliot Gardiner brings sacred drama to the Proms in Monteverdi's Vespers

Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers are something of a musical enigma. Neither their true pitch nor order of movements, their origins, nor even whether they were intended as a complete sequence is known for certain, prompting scholar Denis Arnold to conclude that, “to perform it is to court disaster”. Such a grim augury however has done little to discourage musicians, and in this, their 400th anniversary year, Monteverdi’s Vespers have been ubiquitous.

Röschmann, Collins, BBCPO, Noseda, Royal Albert Hall

Intimate song flows through a thoughtful programme of orchestral and vocal works

Maybe it's a truism that most instrumental music, at least before World War One, aspires to the condition of song. Few have gone farther in that respect than the composers of the three purely orchestral works in last night's Prom. Add to the mix a conductor of impeccable operatic credentials who knows how to draw intimate vocalising from his players, a promising lyric-dramatic pianist and one of the most unusual great soprano voices of our time, and an evening of singing heartbreak was the result.

Orchestre National de France, Gatti, Royal Albert Hall

A hit-and-miss Prom for Gatti's French band

It was one of those moments that every conductor (and orchestra) dreads: “The Procession of the Sage” from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is in rip-roaring full cry, percussion grinding and scratching, high trumpet screeching – but Daniele Gatti, it would seem, loses a bar somewhere and gives his Orchestre National de France a premature cut-off, leaving the entire brass section between a rock and a hard place. Stop or play on? An ignominious collapse ensues – as big a blunder as I’ve heard in any professional concert in years. Who says The Rite of Spring no longer has the capacity to shock?

RSNO, Denève; Ensemble Matheus, Spinosi, Royal Albert Hall

TAD AT 5 AT THE PROMS: VINTAGE DOUBLE-BILL 2010 Stéphane Denève's roof-raising Respighi followed by Jaroussky and Lemieux in late night Vivaldi 

French sophistication meets Italianate fire in two stunning Proms

One Proms blockbuster effortlessly reached its goal last night when Paul Lewis crowned his Beethoven piano concertos series with a diamantine "Emperor". Two more suggested themselves in a challenging quartet of big works programmed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's brilliant music director Stéphane Denève. I now hunger for concert performances here conducted by Denève of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and James MacMillan's The Sacrifice. On the evidence of the late-night Prom's box of delights, I even uncharacteristically want to hear all of Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Philippe Jaroussky and Marie-Nicole Lemieux as the stars.

One Proms blockbuster effortlessly reached its goal last night when Paul Lewis crowned his Beethoven piano concertos series with a diamantine "Emperor". Two more suggested themselves in a challenging quartet of big works programmed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's brilliant music director Stéphane Denève. I now hunger for concert performances here conducted by Denève of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and James MacMillan's The Sacrifice. On the evidence of the late-night Prom's box of delights, I even uncharacteristically want to hear all of Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Philippe Jaroussky and Marie-Nicole Lemieux as the stars.

Unlikely soulmates: Beyoncé and Turnage hammer out that ring

Did anyone find the aged-rocker thrash of Mark Anthony Turnage's new work at the Proms, Hammered Out  - a bit of a disappointment to Edward Seckerson - oddly familiar? This brilliant YouTube remix will tell you why. And for all the orchestral flash, which struck me too as a bit vieux jeu, give me the dazzling Beyoncé Knowles and her sensational dance routine in that video over the Turnage piece any day.

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Gerhaher, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Blomstedt, Royal Albert Hall

Not a concert but a masterclass in Bruckner conducting

Yet again I leave a Herbert Blomstedt concert with a sense of wonderment and bemusement. Wonderment at the extraordinary music-making that this man is capable of. Bemusement as to why he is not better known, his talents not more widely recognised, his services not more often called upon in this, his 83rd year. Last night's masterful Prom saw him leading the youngsters of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester first into the heavens of Hindemith's Mathis der Maler Symphony and then into the fiery wastes of hell in Bruckner's terrifying Ninth.
 

Hänsel und Gretel, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Ticciati, Royal Albert Hall

TAD AT 5 AT THE PROMS: GLYNDEBOURNE'S HANSEL AND GRETEL 2010 Humperdinck's fairy tale makes a buoyant transition from Sussex to the Proms

Humperdinck's fairy tale makes a buoyant transition from Sussex to the Proms

From the cuckoo hidden somewhere in the Albert Hall thicket to the Wagnerian bacchanalia of a rollicking Witch's Ride, Glyndebourne adapted its queasy little fairy tale to the widescreen of the Proms with its usual style. There was a twist or two to the consumerist heaven and hell of Laurent Pelly's never too heavy-handed production as semi-staged by assistant director Stéphane Marlot. And centre-platform rather than down in the pit, the phenomenally gifted Robin Ticciati played Peter Pan to the best possible pair of "children", helping them to soar in Albertspace with effortless charm.

From the cuckoo hidden somewhere in the Albert Hall thicket to the Wagnerian bacchanalia of a rollicking Witch's Ride, Glyndebourne adapted its queasy little fairy tale to the widescreen of the Proms with its usual style. There was a twist or two to the consumerist heaven and hell of Laurent Pelly's never too heavy-handed production as semi-staged by assistant director Stéphane Marlot. And centre-platform rather than down in the pit, the phenomenally gifted Robin Ticciati played Peter Pan to the best possible pair of "children", helping them to soar in Albertspace with effortless charm.