Concluding Remarks

Proms on TV
Concluding Remarks
Norton Cottages

One thing I have learned about the Proms in 2026 is that they do carry their own brand of political tension. Just like Brexit, there are two camps of thought: those in favour of the 'accessible' Proms [shall we call them 'Remainers'?], and those against it [Vote Leave]. I would place myself in the former camp, though I am not wholly unsympathetic with the latter. I can understand that a classical purist would not especially want to listen to Marvin Gaye or Supertramp. 

But the problem with that side of the room is that they only want to moan about it, and won't offer a alternative plan of accessibility for the 'Comman Man,' as is the premise of the Proms, is it not? More deeply, then, I suspect the message boils down to this: we want the riff raff out of our space. An effective way to do this would be to increase the ticket prices, and, yes, make the programme as academic (boring) as possible. 

I, for example, would be interested to watch an orchestra play a serious classical concert dressed in their civvies, as opposed to the jet-black gowns and dicky bows. Could a prestigious ensemble like the LSO or Vienna Philharmonic be convinced to play a Shostakovich in their Nike trainers and Levi jeans? [Other Western designer clothing brands are available.]
    Or... could we take the ultimate step and have a 'naturist' version of Beethoven's Fifth, under the proviso that we are post watershed, and that all modesties are preserved by the amusing placements of instruments and stands? Something for the purists to ponder on. No horn jokes, please. For now, though, I will be content to take James Bond and Disney alongside Bach and Brahms.

The second thing I have learned from Proms on TV in 2026, and this one is quite ironic... I sort of prefer the radio broadcasts! 

I think it is safe to say that, by now, my Proms FOMO has finally been laid to bed. I look forward to watching and listening next year. I had vowed not to do any more Blogs, but then I discover that 2027 is the centennial year of the BBC Proms. Given the fragility of today's BBC, one would be foolish to miss it. How can I approach it next year to make it meaningful? It's hard to tell where I'll be at in July 2027, but do watch this space.

New World Symphony at the Proms

Proms on TV 2026
New World Symphony at the Proms
Royal Albert Hall

It's Friday night and - unusually for a rainy Friday - I cycled into work. Trying to do so as much as possible now before the clocks go back. The Last Night of the Proms was nearly two weeks ago, and the true autumn conditions are almost upon us. I have one more Prom to watch: the New World Symphony. As I have remarked on social media recently: I adore the music of Dvorak - just don't ask me to pronounce his name. Still haven't got my head around it.

The New World Symphony is actually a good unofficial 'Last Night.' There is something about the Hovis theme tune that really places one's thoughts into reflection. And I do also love the dramatic Star Wars-esque YA-Da-Da-Da's. 

Before that though, it's Britten's The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, followed by a triple - yes triple! - concerto. Three finalists from the 2026 BBC Young Musician initiative - Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jess Gillam and Ben Goldscheider - take to the stage for a ten-year reunion. And it's a personal anniversary for myself as well, for it was ten years ago in the September that I was nursing a broken wrist from falling off a bicycle in Belgium - a long story which is outside the scope of this Blog post and, frankly, not worth the regurgitation.

I am struggling to identify the instrument that Jess Gillam is playing in this triple-solo extravaganza. It's not a Cor Anglais, nor is it a Bassoon. It's more like a saxophone that's had its open end sawn off. [OMG, I got it right! It's a Soprano Saxophone!!]. 

The performance from all three of them, I have to say, is truly splendid. As is the Bach [finally, something from the main man!] encore.

Then it's the main attraction. One of the Proms staples, I think. Dvorak's New World. Last year it was played by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, which naturally felt a bit more homely to me. The cup of tea next to my buttered toast. But this will surely do.

Over and Out!

Imae: https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2026/09/24/hovis-distribution-drivers-call-off-strike-after-last-minute-negotiations/

Martha Argerich at the Proms

Proms on TV, 2026
Martha Argerich at the Proms
Royal Albert Hall

Sunday evening, and he early signs of autumn are creeping in. Annoyingly, I've still got two Proms left to watch. I say annoyingly, only because it feels now like the party is over and I should be moving on to the next thing 2026 has in store for me.

I have managed to deep clean my bathroom which, though necessary on occasion, is invariably a grim hour, which moves towards three hours. Always feels good afterwards, though.

Tonight on iPlayer I pick Martha Argerich at the Proms. She is a piano legend apparently, having first performed at the Proms way back in 1966. I note that that was the year England did actually have some success, World Cup wise.

Just yesterday, I discovered a relatively new beer shop in Bebington village called the Prost Bottle Shop. It has probably the best selection of German beer bottles I have seen in the UK to date, amongst other esoteric Czech offerings and so on. I settle down with a bottle of 'Darwin's Origin' - something from the Salopian Brewing Company that I was first introduced to a year or two ago, when visiting Shrewsbury for the first time. 

Tonight's Proms has piano in its DNA, we're told. First up it's something by Louise Farrenc, and it is pretty grand I can tell you. One can easily sense that this music is over 100 years old. It ain't half bad!

Martha Argerich then appears to play us some Beethoven, and that can't be a bad thing? It isn't bad at all, and I really like the way she tinkles the ivories in the more 'old school' way, rather than the Super-Star-Prodigy sort of a way. That's how a piano ought to be played, in my opinion. The Ravel Fairy Garden duet at the end is particularly touching, with intertwining trills to finish off. Great stuff!

After the break we head into Brahms Symphony No. 4, and this snags my interest because I think it's the first piece of Brahms I've heard at the Proms. It's a pity Brahms's 4th Symphony doesn't feature alongside Star Wars and The Planets, because it is truly out of this world.

An impromptu encore of Hungarian Dance No. 5. Also a product of Brahms's, I gather.

American Classics at the Proms

Proms on TV, 2026

American Classics at the Proms

Royal Albert Hall

It is Thursday 17th September and, for all intents and purposes, the party is over. The Last Night of the Proms aired this weekend just gone. But I am not up-to-date with all the broadcasts, and so still have three more to catch up with. I have a spare couple of hours this evening, so I choose American Classics at the Proms. I'm so glad I did, for tonight it is a 'musical roadtrip across the USA.' If you've read any of my other Blogs, you'll know that I'm rather partial to those.

Georgia Mann takes the reigns of presenting, but who's this in the studio with her? God Almighty, it's my old mate Neil Brand! I call him my mate because I had a few seconds worth of conversation with him earlier this year, in the foyer of the Brindley Theatre - the esteemed venue at the heart of Runcorn's thriving Old Town. Neil Brand is an improvisational pianist to silent films such as Laurel and Hardy, and it was his 100th year L&H celebration show that I had the delight to attend this spring - it actually formed part of my Route 66 preamble. Neil is not only a guest at the Proms tonight, but a co-host. And he adds articulate commentary to all the performances.

The televised broadcast does not seem follow the same running order as it went out live, but no matter. We (the TV audience) begin with The Big Country by Jerome Moross, and I know this tune well. Very Wild West. In fact, did it not serve as a theme tune to some Western serial? Maybe.

That is followed by some music by Bernstein, and there is a link between him and the Marin Alsop, who is conducting the orchestra tonight. She was actually a student of Bernstein's. The music - like much orchestral music sourced from North America - can't help but turn a little jazzy in places. Indeed, rip-roaring brass and 'falsetto' clarinet toots are the order of the day.

We have Copland, who has featured a few times during the 2026 Proms. I have been glad to become familiarised with his name and work. I seem to remember his Appalachian Suite was also featured in Radio 3's American Roadtrip series earlier in the year, but I'll have to read back on my notes to confirm it. Additionally, I tuned in to Copland's Billy the Kid at The Proms on Radio 3, a couple of weeks ago. I was intrigued to hear it after visiting the Billy The Kid Museum at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, just a couple of months ago.

Then it's Gershwin. Oh Gershwin, My Gershwin! This unique version of Rhapsody in Blue contains a gentle Boogie Woogie piano, morphing into a more straight-time blues with jazz flavours - all provided by the Marcus Roberts Trio. When and where are they playing? I must see them!

And the encore is a delight. I think Georgia M says it is Victory Stride by James Johnson. It has something of a 'roaring twenties' flavour to it, with cellos being spun on their axes during rests, and slapped double bass interludes.What a joy. 

No wonder it was a capacity crowd at the RAH. Forget the Disney Prom - this one enlightens, this one enchants. If I could have had a ticket for just one of the Proms in 2026, this one would have been the one. God Bless America.

Photo: The Route 66 Collection. ARL 2026

Last Night of the Proms

Proms on TV, 2026
Last Night of the Proms
Royal Albert Hall

Once again, we have made it to the Last Night. Or, at least some us have. I have still got about three Proms outstanding on iPlayer, and I am watching this one the night after it is broadcast, because on Saturday evening I was doing some rock-and-rolling with the new band I am in.

It is early Sunday evening, and it is still light outside. I am conscious that there are over three hours worth of the Last Night coverage to watch, so I start early. It has been a warm and sunny mid-September day, and I have fortunately had time to Ronseal my front fence, and creocote (with a c), the back gate, afore the autumn conditions turn inclement.

Of course, this time last year I had all the excitement of attending the Last Night in person, after spending eight weeks of the summer blogging every one of them - so the 2026 Last Night was never quite going to live up to that. I did have planned a night in with the UK and EU flags (which I have still got from last year), but it didn't quite work out.

A decent effort though; a good seven out of ten. The first music to catch me is the Keltic Suite Lament, because I am actually in a lamenting mood right now - another reason why I was not best placed to be watching this on Saturday. As ever, my own lament carries the subject of romantic rejection. This summer - amidst the Proms - the doors of romance were looking like they might just open for me. After a seven-week courtship (my new PB), I received the omnipresent 'you're a nice guy, but...'. Being dumped stings at the best of times, but for it to happen on the afternoon of the Last Night of the Proms seems like a cruel twist. [She wasn't to know.]

I digress. The first half introduces us to 'superstar' pianist, Yuja Wang. 'FFS, not another Asian piano prodigy,' I think to myself. 'All we need now is another "urgent" socially-commentative premiere that will never see the light of day again.'
    But my misgivings were premature. She does do a sterling job of Barber's Piano Concerto, and later on I am really taken with her work on Alexander Tsfasman's Suite for Piano and Orchestra - it's a jazz suite, and Nick Mohammed is quite right to suggest that it has echoes of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. It does, and that's a fine thing.

The Dolly Parton medley is apposite. Haven't we all loved and lost, this summer? Sheridan Smith can't seem to shake off the dulcet tones of Cilla Black, but her effort was sincere.

Holst's Jupiter is obligatory, but I am not complaining. There is a premiere from Anne Dudley, whose music I really like. She was being interviewed on the radio earlier in the season, which I enjoyed listening to. As a toddler I used to jive to the rhythm of Jeeves and Wooster, so I'm told. Probably true, as I am still prone to jive to it today.

Scotch Snap brings us some comic relief, and Nicky Spence is our ever-returning jester throughout the evening. Sometimes he turns serious, though, boasting out a hearty Rule Britannia for us.

Cue the Last Night roster of Auld Lang Syne and the National Anthem &tc &tc.

The rest, as they say, is history; and to spout Tennyson: It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

Celebrating Disney at the Proms

Celebrating Disney at the Proms: The Music of Menken
Royal Albert Hall

Nick Mohammed once again takes the reigns of Proms presenting, and this evening he gives us a 'rolodex' of performances, all of which are celebrating the quasi-innocent world of Walt Disney.

It is Sunday night and I have to be up ridiculously early for a 5:50am start at work. Therefore, I settle on the settee with a mug of microwaved milk and my last couple of blocks of Saturday night's Dairy Milk with Biscoff. 

The show opens with Be My Guest, and it's as camp as it ever was. It is a classic, though. Outperformed only by Harry Shearer as Mr Burns, in the ever-hilarious See My Vest. [Just re-watched that on YouTube for the giggles].

The music of Beauty and the Beast is an obvious choice - and it is a good choice. The main Beauty and the Beast theme ('Tale as Old as Time'), has always been a good number. But - even more so - is the Beauty and the Beast Prologue. For me, it is a outstanding piece of music. It somehow manages to blend the pleasant with the unsettling, and the calm with a powerful foreboding. Don't ask me how - it is magic, after all. My tear ducts well up just from playing it back on YouTube now.

Lucie Jones - a contemporary stalwart of London's West End - takes the stage as Belle; and she, like all the singers (presumably also West End), do a fine job of that faux-American accent that is used for virtually all stage musicals. Indeed, even as a child I think I sensed something strange about so many American cartoon characters sporting lederhosen and garlic necklaces in continental Europe. 

We do have some jollity in the form of The Little Mermaid, and why not? I'm happy to see (and hear) a steel drum, which always brings with it that unmistakable tone. I note, also, that the opening arpeggio to Little Mermaid sounds eerily similar to my beloved Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. [Hark at Alan Bennett, here.]

The Met Orchestra Plays Strauss

Proms on TV, 2026
The Met Orchestra Plays Strauss
Royal Albert Hall

It is Sunday evening and I am in a reflective, melancholic mood. A combination of the drizzly weather, (foreboding of the incoming autumn) Bank Holiday work tomorrow, and the fact that I drank a coffee this morning which has proved to have an extended half life.

Anyway, on go the iPlayer Proms, and I pick The Met Orchestra playing Strauss. Richard Strauss. Another USA orchestra, in another nod to the country's semiquincentennial.  First up is the Der Rosenkavalier suite. It is a full bodied music which is pleasant to listen to - characteristic of his style. 

Next it's opera to Oscar Wilde's Salome; a play which actually makes up part of the anthology of plays I purchased at his childhood home in Dublin, precisely fourteen days ago. Soprano Elza van den Heever takes the stand to deliver the vocals.

After the interval it is a long piece called Ein Heldenleben. I stand by my front door and watch the light slowly disappear on what has been a day of mixed weather and emotion.

There was a mistake during the encore, apparently, but it was way over my head.