Promming

Brilliant thing about being back in the UK is that I have London at my beck and call.  Although Basel had it its fair share of music events, London wins that one fair and square.  To top it all, I am back in time to catch some of the BBC Prom season.

I have to eat my words, with regards to English trains compared to Swiss ones, the clean South West train was exactly on time onto the platform at Wokingham, and at Waterloo exactly 1hour and 9 minutes later.  Although many of our old friends in the UK think this line is very slow compared to the Paddington line into London, I quite enjoyed seeing the variety along this rail line.  There is such a mix of wealth, Sunningdale and Ascot compared to Bracknell and some of the outer parts of London.  Also welcome patches of green oases like Twickenham down to small strips of well cared for vegetable allotments growing alongside the rail track.

My brother had invited me into London for Prom number 43 at the Royal Albert Hall as a birthday present.  The last prom I attended was some time ago, I went to see the Planets, which was amazing with the special acoustics you get in the Royal Albert Hall.  I thought our circle seats right at the very back last row were great value at 12GBP each.  We were in the lap of the gods, and the steep descent down to the orchestral staging was amazing.  The ladies arriving to our right said they were terrified, they were so high up.  I was a little disconcerted I must say, that at every interval (there were unusually 2 at this concert) the top step in front of my seat seemed to bend and flex quite a lot with the weight of people using it!

The Fanfare for the Common Man and the Adagio for Strings were the pieces I instantly recognised.  There is something so special about live performance that cannot be gained from even the best CD or downloads going.  Whether it be the hypnotic movement of the bows on the violins, or the amazing quality of sound produced from the orchestra that together could almost be considered a living thing.  What amazed me was the music in the quiet sections produced by the strings felt as if it was literally hanging in the air in front of us.  At the end of the Prokofiev piece, I did experience one of those thrilling hair standing on its end on your neck moments.  I can see why people get addicted to the proms.  All sorts of people are there from young to old, and of course the regular Prommers, who have little exclamations, like when the lid of the Grand Piano was raised in unison a group sounded a  ' Heave......Ho!' sounded from the top gallery behind us.  Wang, a young talented Chinese pianist was simply amazing in her technical ability to play the piano.  The piece was not totally my thing, but I could not help but marvel at her astounding performance.
For the serious music connoisseurs amongst you the critique of the Prom: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/8707233/BBC-Proms-2011-Prom-43-RPOWang-Albert-Hall-review.html

My girls are already excited at the thought of attending the Family Prom next year.  This year was Horrible Histories, one of their favourite series.  We will have to wait and see what they have in store next year.

South Kensington has really changed a lot, and Hyde Park for our pre-prom picnic, a perfect quiet oasis in the midst of a busy capital.  The Shard, will be the tallest building in London, is starting to make its impact on the city skyline.  South Ken High Street is now being partly pedestrianised and traffic reduced considerably, and Boris Bikes zoom around everywhere.  London has, and is changing, and in a good way, it certainly feel less polluted, I think the main gauge was returning to find the inside of my nose was not black, as it used to be over 15 years ago or so!