I'm home now.

Thanks to everyone who went and to Barry for organising the trip. It was well worth the journey. The Vivier premier and Musorgsky (orch Ravel) were so lovely. I've always loved Pictures at an Exhibition and it is even more magical live than on recordings.

I got back around midnight to find my computer had been unplugged prior to the move so couldn't log on until now.

Thanks so much for organising this, Barry. As you may have observed, I'm a tad fond of the Ravel G major and also of Charles Dutoit, who I think is the best living conductor of Ravel.

I'm back to Sloane Square and South Ken shortly for another two Proms today.

Good morning all
It was such a nice evening.
Thanks Barry for organising the event!!!
It was so nice to meet you all.
And as for the concert, I thought Martha Argerich was amazing. I was thinking about it before falling asleep last time and I reckon Barry's theory is right. There's no way she can play so beautifully, so fast and still have time between her playing to gracefully and slowly put her hair behind her ears. She must have a third arm that takes over every so often!!!



Thanks Oboe d'amore for these references. I'll check them out! "Picture at an Exhibition" on piano must be amazing!
P.S. I hope your day at work today is not too stressful and that you managed to get enough sleep!


This was my favourite part of the concert together with the encore piece she played! so beautiful!!!!


Glad you made it home ok Altoclef3! I was hoping you'd be ok as we left you quite quickly so glad the journey home went well!


Plenty of rest for you today as you probably didn't get much sleep on the bus!!! Hope the journey home went well!!


Ravel G major was amazing!!!!
Have a great day today back at the RAH for 2 more proms!!!

I noticed this! My jaw dropped and I thought "How the heck can she fit hair adjustment into her playing?!"



I must say I'd never even heard the piece before and was too lazy to listen to it before going, but I really liked it

Flossie's replied above, Sarah texted me to say she was collected by her parents safely.



I'll see if I can find it on iPlayer : perhaps the Radio 3 announcer will mention it



Glad you had fun! You're not the first person to mention that, re. organising! Right, let's get down to Chester...



Won't be any danger of that oboe d'amore



I could tell you liked the Pictures : humming Promenade all the way round London Glad you enjoyed yourself, thanks for making the marathon journey!



I have never seen anyone clap so enthusiastically before, as you did at the end of the Ravel G major! Enjoy the Proms today andante!



Ah, you have succumbed to my theory on Argerich's playing!



Glad you all enjoyed it, it was great to see you all! There will be another forum Prom visit next year : I'll see what everyone likes the look of when 2010's Proms brochure comes out, and we'll go from there.

Well, I had to do this a few times during my lessons when my hair was in my face and I can assure you the result was VERY different!!! There was nothing graceful about it and I always lost track of where I was in the pieces I was playing!!!!


I didn't really know the piece either. I listened to it once on youtube before the concert but it was soooo different hearing it live!!! Loved it. As for the encore, I'm still wondering what piece she played but I also absolutely loved it!!!!
How I wish I could play like that!!!!


Already looking forward to the Proms next year!!!!

Martha Argerich's encore, according to the Radio 3 announcer, was a Scarlatti sonata in G minor.

So we were all wrong then!

Thanks everyone for an amazing night and particularly to Barry and Flossie for coming back to the station with me.

About the hair behind the ear, I don't think it's that difficult. Like if you really need to itch your nose, you will find somewhere to do it and there must be some pretty big rests in a concerto.

Yep! Scarlatti isn't a well known Classical era composer...oops...no points for me in aural tests!

Glad you had fun Sarah!

Very nice

Name change? altoclef3?

Martha was brilliant in both the Ravel G maj and the encore! Thoroughly enjoyable evening apart from one 'old' twit sitting in front of me who insisted on rustling sweet papers. (Fortunately during the Musorgsky and not the Ravel). What was the purpose of the paddling pool/fountain and large plastic frog in the 'mosh pit' ?

Definitely, and I thought the RPO were very good too - they're often underrated.


The previous evening, someone fell asleep and started snoring during the slow movement of Mahler 4, and someone else fainted a few seconds from the end!


Tradition? It also gives somewhere to put a few chairs for prommers who can't stand for too long.

Chris

The fountain has been there as long as I can remember for the Proms season Roger...

On a related note, I'm highly likely to be visiting a few more classical/jazz gigs in London before the next lot of Proms, I'll put a list up soon, and if anyone wants to join me, I'll get a load of tickets.

It's a fountain, rather than a paddling pool. There is a water jet which about once a season gets left on until the very last minute. Were Placido (the flamingo) and Trixie (the dinosaur) in residence on Sunday?

Yes, it's now tradition as much as anything, but the origins of the fountain go back to the days when the Proms were at the Queen's Hall - it provided a mixture of ventilation and some space for fresh (hopefully cooler) air.

Placido Flamingo (groan ) was on duty on Sunday, can't recall there being a dinosaur too...

Sounds interesting

I'll keep you informed

If you go promming, how likely is it that you'll queue up for ages and not get a ticket? Me and my mum quite fancy going to the one on Tuesday night but all the tickets are gone and we don't really want to go all the way to London just to come home again.

I don't think you should have any trouble getting in on Tuesday, even if you turn up an hour before. Even for the Martha Argerich prom which was on a bank holiday weekend, and the queue was down the road and round the corner by that time, I reckon everyone got in.

Chris

What time were you planning on arriving in the queue, Sarah? The earlier you arrive, the better your chances of getting in (and getting your preferred spot).

The queue forms down the South Steps, then goes round the corner into Prince Consort Road, past Imperial College, Holy Trinity Church and on towards Queen's Gate. If the queue hasn't reached Queen's Gate you'll get in; after that it starts to get a bit risky, so it might be worth joining the Gallery queue instead.

I plan on going, so if you go, do pop over and say hello .

It looks as though we can go and can leave pretty much any time after about 1 (we'd get to the RAH around 3 in that case). So that would be up to 3 hours queuing. How long do you think would be a sensible amount of time to guarantee a ticket?

Also, we might stay for the second prom if we can get the tickets, but I guess that might not happen as the first one finishes at the same time as the second one's tickets go on sale.

Obviously I can't guarantee anything, but I would have thought that 3.00 tomorrow afternoon would be fine. Pack a book and a picnic and enjoy the sunshine (and pop into Imperial College if you need to make use of any facilities).

The RAH have arrangements in place so that anyone going to an early Prom can also get to the Late Night concert as well. Find the steward who's looking after the Arena Day queue and enquire exactly what the arrangements are - if it's anything like the Season Ticket queue, you'll get given a raffle ticket*, and when you're chucked out after the first concert, the queue re-forms again in the order of raffle ticket numbers. Does the scheduled finish time allow you to get home before your last train turns into a pumpkin?

*I've been given loads of raffle tickets in the past but have never won anything

Ah, I'll remember to ask about it, assuming we do go. I think we're probably driving to Blackhorse Road or somewhere then getting the tube rather than getting the train all the way. I assume they don't turn the underground off till really late. *goes to check*

EDIT: I think the tube will be fine as long as we don't hang around too long after.

Don't forget to check the buses either - four of them stop outside the RAH.

Im not sure the underground gets turned off at all, sarah

Well, the underground website has lists of last trains.

I think they close it, rather than turn it off

Same difference. The trains go to bed, that's all that matters.

By the way, you really need to change your signature.

Yes, and sometimes that's a better way of getting back to mainline stations than the tube, depending on where you're going. I often get the 9 back to Charing Cross rather than the tube to Embankment.



Nope, they turn it off! All the electricity is turned off at night to allow workers to access the tunnels for maintenance.

Sarah123 one, hello_cello nil

I was right!

Well, we've just got back from London and it turned out to be a pretty good day really.

We were 12th and 13th in the queue for the afternoon one, so got to stand in the second row back from the front (we weren't one the ball, otherwise we should have got to lean on the barrier!), opposite the front cellos and within not-very-far of Daniel Hope and Peter Maxwell Davies, so that wasn't at all bad.

We decided to stay for the second one and found ourselves at the very front of the queue (my ticket is number 1. ) so got to stand right behind the conductor.

What I thought was particularly nice was that for the encore for both proms, they did Happy Birthday for Peter Maxwell Davies which is pretty impressive with the whopping great organ (or full orchestra the first time) and the an Albert-hall-full of people to sing.

Glad you had a good time Sarah. This Prom visiting can get quite addictive, can't it?

Just a bit. I found myself trying to work out whether I'd be able to get to the Friday late one after my recorder and fiddle lessons....I could but I would have to take about a million instruments and a heavy bag of music with me.

It really can! Although the cost of the Travelcard from here is a bit much.

I think it would be quite fun just to get the train to London and just live on the steps of the Albert Hall for as long as it takes for you to get fed up of it, going to every prom there is. At £5 a go, even if you stayed for an entire week, it wouldn't add up to that much and you'd only need two train tickets and would be first in every queue.

One year, I will do the Last Night. Definitely...

A final little postscript...

Solari sent me a little card from the participants of both the August events (and a couple of people extra), with a little gift inside.

Thank you everyone, it's really, really lovely of you all . I get a lot of pleasure out of seeing you all have a great time, and I'm very, very touched...

Hi Solari,

Is your PM box full, have tried to PM you !!