It was the review the BBC Proms, cool I know! haha
But anyway I thought I would post the finished article on here as well for you to give your opinions and thoughts :)
My Royal night at the BBC Proms
Last Friday (The 7th of September) was mine and my
partner’s first trip to ‘The Royal Albert Hall’ to see the BBC Proms.
In fact, to be more specific it was Prom 75: The Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra performing Haydn’s symphony number 107 and Strauss’s
Alpine symphony.
On arrival to the hall I was lost for words, approaching
this vast beauty of architecture. The dome shaped building with all its
grandeur was utterly breath taking. We entered the main entrance to collect our
tickets, and then headed to our seats. All of the staff were extremely friendly
and well mannered.
Entering the hall was again an experience in itself, the
hall was illuminated with coloured lights and decorative banners which told us we
certainly had arrived at the proms.
The tension of pre-performance wasn’t a long one as we
sat down and discussed the beauty of our surroundings the lights dimmed and the
orchestra appeared from the side of the stage.
They were welcomed of course with a warm round of
applause and then were seated ready to tune up and begin. The conductor Bernard
Haitink entered with grace and poise well prepared to start Haydn’s last ever
symphony entitled ‘London’; Quite fitting for the location! The air began to
fill with a slow simple melody which slowly injected its way around the
circular hall. The tension of the piece slowly built with crescendos and
healthy harmonies slowly arising. The mellow vibrancy and simple melodic
phrases only found in classical works such as Haydn or of course Mozart. This
was 30 minutes of mellow music with a string dominated orchestra just
characteristic of the classical period, which I think is just charming. At the
end the orchestra were again welcomed by a colossal round of applause, which
was well deserved.
The lights arose and the interval began, we decided to
take a wonder around the halls and admire the pictures of celebrities who have
played in this wondrous hall. We then headed to get a bottle of water which
took a while because of the queues, and then returned for the second half.
As we walked in the setting of the stage had changed to
accommodate the full orchestra needed for a Strauss Symphony.
The same round of applause was used to greet them once
more and we began. The mood had definitely changed as we have moved on through
music history into the late romantic period. The full orchestra took us out of
our seats and astounded us. The addition of the wind and percussion section
just added a fuller sound in which everyone could appreciate. These 50 minutes
of Strauss told a story and the ups and downs kept me seduced the whole way
through.
When the whole event was finished the orchestra was met
by astronomical applause and admiration for their superb playing. In fact this
caused the conductor to go on and off stage several times and then to my
surprise an encore was played!
Such a fantastic night and reminded me that the
sophistication and regal atmosphere is why the Royal albert hall remains one of
the top music venues.
It certainly put the ‘Royal’ into the Albert hall.
Written by Sophie Ogden
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| Me and the boyfriend looking smart! |
BYE!
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