The Proms

[gabrielconroy]

I went to my first ever Proms concert on Tuesday night, a Jonny Greenwood curation featuring two of his works (one a premiere) alongside a baroque passacaglia for solo violin by Biber (no relation to Justin), a Steve Reich piece and one by Penderecki. I'd paid 30 quid to sit in the choir section behind the stage and fuck me, was it worth it.

The violinist was incredible and the finale of Horror vacui was a physical experience, the bass and cellos like some vast exhaust pushing air right in front of my face. The piece itself (starting at about 1hr 03) is very interesting and has a few sections that sent shivers down my spine, especially the very end that was in some ways a concession to pleasing chords, even if they were shifting over each other like a synth tunes and detunes.

Here it is, if anyone is interested: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0008932

Anyway, this has made me realise I've been missing a massive trick by not going to the proms. Please share your proms-related stories here.

[jonno]

I've only been once, but it was a good one to pick:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6cY4J5c1I

Alexander Gavrylyuk playing Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto, a piece I've long admired and always wanted to experience live. Generally not a massive Rachmaninov fan, this and the Paganini rhapsody are really the only pieces of his that I listen to regularly, and while I've always enjoyed the concerto it had never really moved me deeply, until this performance. The melody in the first movement at 4:30 or so had me choking up, completely out of nowhere I was struggling to hold it together. Incredible experience, there's something about live orchestral music that's very affecting anyway, but this was in a whole other league.

[popcorn]

I was at that Greenwood thing too. Spotted the other Greenwood (Colin) sitting just behind me.

What was that pianist doing during the mental piano one? Was some of it random? Was she wearing weird gloves for something?