Interact & Reviews / Questions to Roger Wright

QArchives

So many of the world's orchestras, festivals and opera houses have put their performance archives on line. Your commentators clearly have a database. Couldn't you share it with us by adding access on the website. Have a look at the Met Opera's archive or that of the Salzburg Festival. It might feed the interminable complaints from those who expect you to programme every Beethoven symphony every year, but would also give us all the chance of accessing the detailed history of the world's greatest music festival!
John Woollard

QHow does it all happen?!

I am always staggered at the sheer scale of the whole Proms operation. One of my questions has been answered here (the overall budget and projected income, though a breakdown would be even more fascinating) but there are so many more that I’m sure would be of interest to your loyal fan base. For instance:
In terms of planning - How far ahead are the programmes planned? Do the orchestras/conductors have input to the programmes? How are the soloists selected? Are the major overseas orchestras scheduled in to coincide with UK/European/world tours? How many staff work in the 'Proms Office'?
In terms of logistics: How long to set the stage and the get-out afterwards? How are the rehearsals and sound checks scheduled in? Where are the performers put up and at whose expense? How many hotel rooms are taken for the season? How many performers are there across the whole season?
In terms of the sound and tv recording: How many microphones/tv cameras? Are the camera operators all musicians as well or do they simply follow a pre-determined script? How large is the sound/visual crew?
I could go on and on. Maybe an area of the web-site could be given over to such facts and figures, together with some interviews with the key players that make it all happen for the benefit of us all.
Robin Owen-Morley

Q Where does the dinosaur pool come from and what is its significance?
Sarah

QWoeful attendance for St Francis

www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2008/Jul-Dec08/prom70_0709.htm
"Bill Kenny ended his review with the optimistic statement that, 'Early booking would be both advisable and worthwhile' for this Proms performance, implying an understandable stance that one would have to be mad to miss this. A position I would have had to concur with at the time - so where was everybody? The gallery and circle was all but deserted, there was ample space in the amphitheatre for people to sleep (they did), not to mention whopping great gaps in the stalls. A wet and overcast Sunday, true, might not be the ideal impetus for a trek into town, but one has to weep when one sees a limp wristed British response such as this. And that the performance fell on a Sunday is no excuse either. Look at how many people turned up to Lang Lang and compare and contrast the musical pay-off too. Perhaps someone could issue this performance on disc? I for one would love to hear it again, and maybe then, thousands of people could at least hear what they missed."
What is your response to this?
The Big Critter

Q Organised chanting in the crowd in the interval - explain? When did it start, who organises it, how does it work, what is the point of it?
A Asher

QAudience Clapping

I see this topic has already been raised, but I feel I, too, must say how thoroughly annoying this clapping between movements has become. Holst's 'Planets' a few night ago became a nightmare due to it. And anticipation of this clapping gives me an uneasy feeling when I should be enjoying the concert!
Clappers might reflect on why, for example, Mahler asked for a 5 minute pause between the 1st and 2nd movements of his Resurrection Symphony and, conversely, why some Beethoven Piano Sonata movements are played "attacca" (no break).
In fact, I wonder whether there is not a CLAQUE in your audience (unpaid, of course) who sets off the inter-movement clapping (I dare say clapping can be quite infectious). If so, then they are a species of hooligan who should be identified and warned that not everyone shares their thoughtless enthusiasm.
As someone remarked elsewhere on the message, maybe a note in the programme could reduce this disturbance.
Peter Barlow

Q1) Logistics - the Britten theatre is difficult both to get into and out of. Can you please schedule your Pre-prom talks so as to give more time before the performance - quite often (as yesterday) the Season ticket queue has already been moved up to Door 1 before one can get out of the pre-Prom talk - thus losing one's place in the queue. Also, on one occasion (Rowan Williams' talk) you scheduled the start of the Pre-prom talk to the same time as the ending of the previous Prom.
2) First performances. There have been many first performances of works at the Proms, but very few second performances, even of works that were critically acclaimed at the time. Can I suggest that you set yourself a ten-year programme (because I hope that you will be with us for that long) to bring, perhaps, a couple of such works that you think have been unfairly neglected back to the Proms each season. If I was selecting such works, I would include John Buller's 'Proenca' and Henze's 'Wreck of the Medusa', but I'm sure that every Promenader would have their own favourites.
Laurence J. Cox

QGallery noise

As a Gallery Promenader who stands near Door 10 can you please tell me what goes on behind the organ at Gallery level that necessitates BBC (?) staff frequently needing to gain access to it via the listening area during performances? This can be very distracting during quiet passages.
The lift also used to be be put out of action during the music. This no longer happens during TV recordings/transmissions, leading to further unwelcome noises off.
The Gallery is acknowledged to be one of the best areas of the RAH to listen to music. It's a shame to spoil it.
Congratulations on your first season and for being the first Director since pre-Glock/Boulez days who doesn't give the impression that British music of the 19th/20th centuries is only included in the Proms on sufferance.
Ray Ward

QAttracting a younger audience

I fully share your aim of attracting a younger audience to the Proms. Have you ever considered starting the season with some live relays to be shown on large screens at large parks in the London suburbs - places like Brockwell Park, Finsbury Park, Peckham Rye Common? Let those people who have never attended a Prom see what they are missing. I am sure your marketing people would relish the opportunity of finding ways of engaging with a new audience and making them welcome at the Proms.
Christopher Tew

QSurtitles

Is there any possibility of using surtitles in Operatic and large Choral works? The technology is pretty standard these days and it would save a lot of paper and a lot of noise as the whole audience turns the page! I am sure there are some sight line problems and there would have to be more than one set; particularly for those in the choir.
You could also broadcast the surtitles on DAB - as was done a few years ago on a broadcast of the Ring from ROH.
A MacQueen

QIn addition to the on-screen English translation of televised choral works in a foreign language, would it be possible to show as well the words in French, German, Latin or whatever the original language may be? I would find it very helpful to know what the singers are singing. And it could be a good thing educationally.
Charles Barrand

Q Could we have the 'about the music' earlier than 1 hour before the concert? This would be especially useful for more modern works, for which details may not be easily available elsewhere.

Having a pre-Proms talk each day is a great bonus, and the ones I have attended so far have been most informative and enjoyable. The location is also ideal. I'm not sure who to thank for this innovation, so I will thank you! (I'm not sure how they managed to edit them down to 20 minutes for Radio 3).
Paul White

QProgramming

Do you think you have the balance correct for the Proms? My ear wants to hear classical music that soothes, gives comfort, harmonious, melodic. Of course, everyone is not the same as me, and we are living in changing times. This I understand. I have to say that I find it a little disturbing... every time I switch on there seems to be a discordant crashing cacophony... It's either Messiaen, or some new commission. If you actually look into a mirror, do you see a person who really has a soft spot for new music... so that's what you think we want to hear.
I'm confused... and probably wrong. Do you think Henry Wood would have anything to say on this issue? When was the last time we heard Bruch’s 3rd Symphony at the Proms? If we all had more of this and less of Stockhausen would the Proms suffer? Presume I'm not going to win on this one, but I wonder how many other music lovers feel the same way.
Terry Diss

QI am a professional American musician; this is my first year of paying really close attention to the Proms via the internet on almost a daily basis. I am delighted to say that I have never, ever encountered such interesting, vigorous, and unfailingly interesting programming from a major venue. As you know, here in the US only the biggest can be boldest, and only the BSO w/Levine or the Chicago Symphony can even begin to occasionally approach new music with the same ambition that you do at the Proms. I expected high-powered performance, but not all the high-level contemporary music. I don't really know if the NY Phil has played more Carter in his own NYC over the past two decades than you have in the past several weeks.
I remain an avid fan of the variety and high international standard of playing. Having played in London several times when the Proms were not running, I have to make the trip to the Albert Hall and catch a week's worth of this really terrific music making. As a musician, I'm glad to know this sort of concentrated activity, using major orchestral forces, goes on night after night somewhere on the planet.
STOCKHAUSEN DAY!!! (Getting the forces together for Gruppen...) The Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto! Daily encounters with Messiaen and Carter. And finally hearing music by multi-faceted personalities like Howard Ferguson. Really amazing. Where have I been?
Gary Chapman

QI just wanted to echo the comments about the wonderful offering of new music at this year's Proms. Of course, we always had commissions, but it's the established classics of post-war music that have made such a welcome return. Well done! Bravo! It feels like I'm living in a European country again.
Andrew Lewis

QPresentation/Broadcast

What's happened to the Proms this year? A tieless Mr Trelawny, looking as if he's just come in from gardening and is in a hurry to resume; Kennedy a visual disgrace; even a conductor in a sweatshirt; male soloists in garb suitable only for a night in the pub; ignorant audiences applauding between movements endless/boring internal talks with concert participants which - like the average Radio 3 music announcements - could easily be cut down by half. (As for those seemingly endless links on R3, I've lost count of the times I've screamed at the radio: 'Get on with (expletive deleted) M U S I C !'
A truly dumbed down affair.
David Hughes

QTechnical problems

There have been a few glitches this year (short breaks in live broadcasts) which have been remedied prior to the repeated broadcast in the early hours of the morning. Last night's Prom (no. 51), however, contained a most bizarre problem which was repeated in the later broadcast and persists even now in the iPlayer repeats of both broadcasts. After 23 minutes of live music our screens went black for a few seconds during the countertenor aria (Annas) of the Bach St John Passion and we were assaulted by the Chorus shouting for Barabbas to be released! Thinking about it (and I regret not having the presence of mind to check this out already) we were actually watching what the Prommers had seen a half-hour earlier in the Royal Albert Hall. I wouldn't mind betting that our televisions were subjected to a few seconds of live radio sound. Whatever the cause, would it be possible to remedy the fault so that the iPlayer version of the concert could broadcast the recording made in the hall rather than the faulty live version? This way your computer viewers and those watching iPlayer through the VirginMedia V+ service could enjoy the performance without the premature release of Barabbas! Many thanks.

P.S. The HD broadcasts view really well. I only got this facility on Saturday. Why don't you broadcast the whole Prom season on BBCHD? There are several hours each day when no particular broadcasts happen and it would be fantastic to see all the concerts every day - not just the few at weekends.
Douglas Jones

QThe Last Night

I would like to know why the Republic of Ireland, its folk songs and flag, are somehow lumped in with this festival of Britishness? It was incredibly insulting to see my nation's flag on Bryn's "UK jacket" tonight and then to hear Molly Malone sung...all capped off with YOUR national anthem! If, as I suspect, you argue that the Proms are a festival about the geographical entity known as "The British Isles" then I urge you to remember that TWO sovereign states occupy these islands...Make it clear to your audience that you are celebrating the UK AND Ireland...close the Proms with "God Save The Queen" AND then the Irish National Anthem by all means, but at the moment, your festival gives off the incredibly insulting impression that the Irish Republic is in some way British, a part of your nation.
Michael McGlinchey

QI was puzzled about the folk songs Bryn sang - Molly Malone (In Dublin's Fair City) as a regional representation of, I assume, Northern Ireland. I was even further puzzled that he had an Irish Tricolour flag (green, white and gold) on his sleeve and maybe even on his tie. I don't think the Irish (ROI) would be too enamoured with Rule Britannia! Very confusing.
Joan Simpson

QWhy did Bryn's coat display a flag of the Republic of Ireland? and why did the medley of folk songs from around the BRITISH ISLES, not include one from Belfast? The last time I looked, Dublin was not part of the United Kingdom nor Great Britain.
Lisa

QOmission of Henry Wood's arrangements of Sea Songs

Was the Vaughan Williams anniversary the only reason we had to have his short orchestration of Sea songs instead of the usual Henry Wood arrangement? I was devastated that the lovely sea songs with all the solo parts for the orchestra were missing. For me, it totally spoilt what would have been a wonderful concert and occasion.
Jennifer Samuels

QPomp and Circumstance 'up and down'

The 'bobbing' up and down as we call it, has been going on as long as I have Prommed. In addition to accompanying Pomp and Circumstance it is often a quite spontaneous reaction to a particularly jolly or rhythmical piece of music - particularly an encore. I tend to think of it as silent foot tapping - rather than make a noise and disturb the Radio 3 transmission, we bob up and down to the beat. Counter bobbing is also often done to the off beat and swaying from side to side often to more melodious renditions. It is just another of the Proms traditions along with the 'heave and ho' for the raising of the piano lid and the polite applause for the Leader playing an 'A' on the piano before a piano concerto.
Sue Brady

QProms on DVD/CD

Any chance of the BBC selling a DVD of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra concert from last year?
Jim Smith

QLang Lang on DVD please

Today I phoned the BBC Shop in the hope that they would advise me that the Lang Lang recital televised on Sunday will be produced as a DVD. I feel so convinced that this should happen and that there would be a strong commercial market for it. It was such an important concert in terms of its beauty, uniqueness and also for motivating children and young people with their music. I feel it would sell like hotcakes, as would have other concerts in the past, if produced on CD/DVD ( ie. Gergiev and the Kirov doing Shostakovich 4; Bobby McFerrin - both a few years ago). Classic FM do well out of their outputs- why can't we have a few from the BBC proms each year?

I am sad that we can only enjoy this delight for 30 days and on a computer screen. Please advise me if there is any chance of anyone doing anything?
C Drury

QRights issues

Once again the Proms season has been wonderful and balanced, I've enjoyed the mixture of different exposures gained by attending concerts, listening at home on Radio 3, listening in the car and watching on BBC HD. I'm wondering if any of the moments could be made to live on, possibly by BBC Records issuing an edited collection of a boxed CD from each season, even by using some of the guest conductors as a editorial board? Presumably the BBC only takes broadcast rights to concerts performed by non-BBC orchestras, so such a project would not be possible?
Edward Richardson

QCD recordings of the Proms

Any chance that the outstanding performance given by Martyn Brabbins of the Sinfonia Antartica by Vaughan Williams (Prom 73) will be issued on CD or can I purchase one from the BBC? Some years ago I attended Bartók Bluebeard's Castle and was delighted to discover it on CD some months later (and surprised as did not expect it to be a volume seller!)
Paul Stanyer

QBroadcasts

The programming of this year's Proms season has been excellent – a big thank you. However, we've found the coverage haphazard and confusing. Evening Proms are repeated during weekday afternoons – but not all are repeated. Some evening proms start at 7.30, some at 7pm (but this is when there's a late night Prom, perhaps?). And then there are the televised Proms. Some (few) televised proms coincide with the radio coverage; some start half an hour later, on the same evening; some happen a random period after the Prom itself. As a result of this confusion, we've missed some Proms we wanted to hear/watch.

PLEASE can you review your overall coverage and try better to co-ordinate it? Or, if there are some kind of rules which we've failed to appreciate, publish an "idiot's guide to catching proms on radio/TV"? Yes, we know we can use iPlayer for missed concerts etc., but not everyone can do that! Alison & Michael

QWould you consider in future a Welsh commentary for a Proms concert or a Proms concert broadcast on Radio Cymru to introduce to Welsh-speaking audiences who don't normally listen to the Proms the treasures they are missing?
Ruth Lambert

QVW let-down

I heard over the radio the outstanding concert by the Halle Orchestra and was looking forward to the television presentation. This was enjoyable, but the major work in the concert, the Vaughan Williams symphony, was left out. The original concert must have been carefully planned, yet so far as I could see or hear not only did the TV presentation exclude the symphony, but the presenters made no reference at all to the fact that it had ever been in the concert. Since it was the outstanding part of the concert, and since presumably the cameras were present during the performance, I hope viewers will be able to view it soon.
Mark Todd

QWhy on earth couldn't you extend the programme on Sat. 30 August to include the performance of "Job"? The cameras must have been in situ, so it wasn't a question of expense. For those who live 300 miles away that concert was a big oasis in a sea of sport and rubbish - it had been promised for weeks - even by you in this column - and YOU CUT THE BEST PART OUT. Very sad.
Brian Astell

QTransmission of choral concerts

Why are so few choral concerts televised? They are amongst the most interesting to actually watch because of the participation of the singers - both choir and soloists - as well as the orchestra. I'm really disappointed that Beethoven's choral symphony is not being televised as it must be one of the most popular of symphonies with its exhilarating vocal ending. And Gianandrea Noseda is such a charismatic conductor to watch. Why wasn't this thought to be worth broadcasting on television please?
Ruth Jones

QMusic for future seasons

Given the triumphant success of the complete performance of "The Sleeping Beauty" by Gergiev and the LSO, I wonder if it would be possible in future seasons to consider some other complete ballet scores for inclusion. For example Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" and "Cinderella"; Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and "Nutcracker"; Delibes "Coppelia" and "Sylvia"; Khachaturian's "Gayaneh" and "Spartacus".
Peter Ludbrook

QWhere are the female composers?

For years now, I have eagerly waited for the Proms guide to be made available, thinking that surely it must be time for more female composers to be featured? Each year I am disappointed and this year, sad to say, has been no exception. Is there really no room for the likes of, say, Clara Schumann, Louise Farrenc or Rebecca Clarke? I recall there was some Lili Boulanger a few years ago and an outing for Ethel Smyth's "The Wreckers" but that is about it. Please can this appalling oversight be corrected next year?
Beverley Platt

QHas Gounod's MORS et VITA ever been considered for the Proms? I have never heard of it being performed live anywhere and perhaps a Prom Concert is its only hope. Alternatively, perhaps we could hear Gounod's Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cecile.
Barbara Lannoy

QMessiaen St. Francois

A huge thank you for taking the decision to present this astounding work at the Proms this year. It was an incredible performance by the artists, and a truly moving work. It was sad that more seats were not filled for this performance, but I'm sure that everyone who was there, like myself, was moved and amazed. It was without doubt, the highlight not just of this year's Proms, but of any of the Proms I have attended over the past 8 years.
Andrew McKena

QWhy has every new piece commissioned in the last 5 years atonal, when it has a very limited audience? Is there a dictatorship at executive level running classical music who will not consider any tonal pieces? Pursuing this atonal policy is sending classical music down a cul de sac to oblivion.
Frank

QThe idea of a free Prom was great. Will you be having another free Prom next year, and could you please consider the idea of more matinee Saturday afternoon Proms so that people from the provinces like me can get in to see them?
Francis Flanagan

QLack of Proms Concerts for Children

We are keen to introduce our six year old son to concert-going and thought this season's Proms would be a good start. However, we were very disappointed to find that only one of the 76 concerts, the Doctor Who Prom, was specifically designed for this purpose. Furthermore, the huge popularity of the concert amongst Doctor Who buffs and others meant the concert was sold out before General Booking opened. Please would you make better provision for young children at Proms concerts in future seasons.
Anne Williams

QAttracting a younger audience

I'd like to raise the issue of attracting a younger audience, and in particular encouraging entire families (with children) to attend. It seems to me that the timing of Proms (7pm or later) makes it almost impossible for families to attend. Could a set of "children friendly" concerts could be staged on a Saturday afternoon, say 3pm, with a programme of well-known classics and two halves. Pricing could encourage youngsters to attend and I'm sure the BBC could publicise the concerts toward the younger age group. And people would understand if the very young were less than 100% attentive.

The RAH is a great venue, and a regular weekly concert of this type would, I'm sure, be very much in keeping with Newman's intent "to reach a wider audience by offering more popular programmes, adopting a less formal promenade arrangement, and keeping ticket prices low."
Paul White

QClapping between movements - is there really a debate? I think clapping between movements expresses ignorance rather than enthusiasm. New people coming to concerts is great, but they may need guidance on how to behave. A note in the programme saying 'Please don't clap between movements' (along with turn off your mobile phone, don't cough, etc) would probably do it. There is clearly a limit to acceptable expressions of enthusiasm - would you or the artists encourage shouts of 'Bravo!' or 'woooo!' during the performance? It's bad enough when people's keenness to show their appreciation makes them start clapping before the music ends, spoiling it for the rest of the audience. Control yourself!
Elizabeth Moore

Q Can anything be done to encourage the audience to be less generally noisy? In Das Lied, the pleasure drawn from the piece was significantly affected by the following noises: coughing at key moments; the unwrapping of sweets; the opening of bottles of water and then their occasionally being dropped on the floor; whispering between concert-goers; etc. Mercifully, the work was given the silence it deserved at the end of the piece - a rare and wonderful moment - but the pleasure would have been all the more intense if there had been less tension generated by the preceding sloppy behaviour.

Q Surely the mobile phone message pre-concert could be amended to include a more general, courteous note about coughing and other forms of noise?
Edward Davey

Q Proms programmes used to carry announcements like the following from 2004: "Remember: mobile phones wreck concerts, and so do digital alarms, eating, drinking, talking, coughing and taking photographs." Since 2006 at least, the only references have been to phones, alarms and photographs. Surely this isn't because you and the musicians consider eating, drinking, talking and coughing acceptable? So why are these things no longer mentioned?
Carolyn Beckingham

QAlthough we have had brass bands at the Proms, it would be great to have wind bands too. Perhaps a 'Wind and Brass' Day might be an idea to pursue. With the wealth of serious music that's around these days, I am sure there would be quite a wide variety. Be good to see the wind and brass sections of the entire BBC orchestras perform at a concert, with percussion, and maybe a new work as well.
Tim Wheeler

QEver thought of a performance of Cage's 4'33" at the Proms? I was at the performance at the Barbican a few years back, and it was a truly astonishing experience. I would have thought a score for full orchestra and chorus would be quite an opener for a season!
Gary Evans

QAfter the undoubted success of the Folk Day, would you consider a future Traditional/Dixieland/Swing Jazz Day in a similar vein? We have, in the past, very much enjoyed several more modern and big band jazz late night events.
Sue Brady

QJust want to say how pleased I am with the increased representation of (more or less) contemporary music after some fairly lean years. I used always to look forward to the Proms each year, knowing that there would be a fair representation of the best of new music. In recent years such gems have been rather harder to find - but the current season finds two of us making the pilgrimage from Ireland specifically for the Stockhausen Day and the forthcoming Harvey/Messiaen/Varèse Prom.
Joe O'Farrell

QWhy has our main classical music festival been adulterated this year with folksy and world music? Classical music is given little enough air time as it is, and the folk and world elements - good in themselves though they be, take away already scarce concerts. Can't they be featured on one of the dozens of 'pop' channels instead? Yes I know they aren't pop music, but neither are they classical! I would also like to make a plea for more British composers to be featured. There's a real dearth of them this year.
Cynthia Kirk

QI have so far listened to a good number of the Proms concerts on Radio 3 this season and have noticed that, on every occasion as far as I can recall, when there has been either a concerto or a symphony, not one of the various presenters has mentioned the key signature. With a few exceptions concertos and symphonies have the keys as part of their full, correct titles. It would be helpful for listeners, especially for those who may not be very familiar with the work. Is there some policy now to not announce keys? With a variety of presenters on hand not to mention the keys does seem rather beyond coincidence. If it is intentional, why should this be?
Raymond Cox

Q I was at the Prom last Saturday (BBC CO/Hazlewood), and after the first piece there was a whacking great pause as the conductor left the stage. It was embarrassingly long and the orchestra were talking amongst themselves, looking a bit sheepish. My friend watched the Prom on television and told me that in fact it was in order to interview Charles Hazlewood in between the pieces! This seems even more ridiculous - if it was so important to interview him, why not do it on stage so that the audience could benefit from this as well, rather than leaving us all loitering, wondering what on earth was going to happen? It's brilliant that the concert was on BBC2 but it doesn't need to be 'dumbed down' with chat between the pieces for the audience watching at home - or if it does, then please do the same for the audience there, rather than turning our concert experiences into disjointed, sporadic experiences!
Vanessa Williams

Q I live in Ireland and was bitterly disappointed with Saturday's Prom on BBC2. They NEVER stop talking. That large couch looks ominous - soon everyone will be sat there giving their two penn'orth. The one occasion someone was asked about the piece to come he couldn't remember it!! Sorry but this is just a talk shop with some music added - albeit, that was wonderful. WHY do we need all these folk giving their opinions and superfluous statements? LET THE MUSIC DO THE TALKING - that's what we tune in for. Incidentally we don't hear the voice-over with all the applause; they might just as well wait until it has died down. What with the Young Musician of Year fiasco I despair of Classical music on BBC television - and we rely on the BBC for our bit of the Proms, as I can't possibly get to London.
So disappointing!
Brian Astell

Q Why oh why do you have pundits who do not understand the genre. I have just heard one young chap refer to Bernstein as someone who could not make up his mind whether to be a 'serious' composer or a jazz composer. I have come across this phenomenon before; as a jazz musician I would have to ask if you consider say, Tim Garland, Mike Walker, John Dankworth, or Dave Brubeck et al as something other than serious about their compositional work?
Clive Meadows

Q Some people love Hazelwood & Co. I hate them and Hazelwood in particular. Not just because he is the ultimate sycophant but mostly because the BBC put him there. All commenting is in terms of praise if not downright adulation. Not a word of criticism. Not a dissenting voice. Music is not debatable. This puts music into the same category as religion: adoration, respect and reverence are taken for granted - God is not to be put in the dock.
If music doesn't get the open and honest treatment all other walks of life can expect, it will remain the domain of theologians, weirdoes and the initiated. It makes a mockery of the concept of 'comment' and presumes that music is untouchable and cannot be talked about in similar language as any other subject, such as paintings, books, or even politics, sport and the weather. It prevents the development of a healthy appreciation in which brain and imagination, reason and intuition play equal parts.
May I suggest that music (and its performers) can be good, very good, bad, very bad, interesting or not interesting at all, exciting and boring, complex and simple, minimal and maximal, muscular and spineless, understandable or incomprehensible, and all for good and rational reasons that people would apply in all other domains of life (except religion).
After Richard Dawkins I would say 'wake up and get rid of the music delusion'.
Jan Vriend

Q Is the BBC getting less courteous? Just as credits for composers and musicians are now disgracefully and discourteously rushed at the end of most TV dramas and documentaries, so in many of the televised Proms (including the First Night) orchestral leaders have become barely acknowledged. As a former professional violinist, I think that's a bit of a retrograde step. The leader has a big responsibility and their career status deserves special mention – certainly more than the discursive, often socially awkward 'puffs' between items by fairly ordinary musical commentators.
David Bateman

QRachmaninov: All-Night Vigil - The above work was performed at the Proms on Friday 16th August, 1991. Shortly afterwards President Gorbachev was arrested at his dascha on the shore of The Black Sea. This event preceded the dissolution of the USSR under Boris Yeltsin. Tonight's performance takes place during the present troubles in Georgia; portentous indeed.
Is there a seer in the programming department?
John Kindleyside

QI really enjoy the Proms via the Internet every year from Canada where I have studied for my science degree for 4 years. I hope I will be able to join the Proms live someday, especially the Last Night. I've got to ask you a basic question: why are audiences "up and down" dancing while Pomp and Circumstance is playing? Does it have any historical background? How/when did it start? It is very curious and cute performance, and I envy because all audiences are having a most enjoyable time. I hope I would be there someday with dancing.
Hiroe Yamazaki

QThis isn't actually a question, unless I can ask it this way: did you really know what the Proms have wrought, by bringing together so many young people with the same passion?
I met Jeannie Toone in the arena on August 28, 1968. We moved to the USA with our three children in 1983; our oldest, a cellist, spent a 1994 semester in Scotland but started his trip with a half-season ticket (he still talks about the Abbado Mahler 9) after which he said "Now I know what you and Mum have been talking about all these years!"
Now in Seattle, we don't get to the Albert Hall much! But we'll be there, in the seats this time, on August 28, to celebrate 40 years and give thanks to Henry Wood and William Glock, and top it off with a visit to the Queen's. I hope you can also spark a generation of happy marriages.
David Brooks

QWhat is the intro music to the TV broadcasts of the Proms?
James

QWhere is Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs in this season's Last Night? If I was going to Prom on the Last Night, I'd be terribly disappointed to find they didn't play it. As it is, I'll miss it when listening via TV or radio. I hope it'll return next year. I have to say, I've found that the inclusion of Welsh, Scottish and Irish songs (sung in the parks) caused the Fantasia to drag on for too long, which may be what has brought on its absence this year. I agree that tunes from the nations should be included, but why not keep them in the same format as Wood's songs (i.e. orchestral and short)? I think you should look no further than Fritz Spiegel's now-redundant Radio 4 Theme. His arrangements of the Londonderry Air, Annie Laurie, Men of Harlech and Scotland the Brave would fit perfectly into the Fantasia!
Jonathan Rawle

QI am very grateful to the BBC for making all of the Proms available online. What a wonderful gift you are giving the world. We can all go Promming, even if we are not in London. Thank you! I have one small request regarding the menu for the iPlayer. Could you possibly place the programmes in numerical order? It would make it so much easier to choose the Prom one is interested in. I'm also noticing that often the two parts of a broadcast are not next to each other. Having to scroll up or down to find the second part is bit of an annoyance.
Ed Martin ð

QThe Last Night is an established favourite, and a few years ago there used to be the more accessible 'Nation's Favourite Prom', do you envisage the First Night becoming a similarly recognised landmark, and if so, what would its role be?
Leo Watkins

QAs I find it difficult to find any reason to criticise your inaugural season as Proms director, I wish to ask you a question regarding Roger Norrington and his lack of vibrato. Do you think it correct to perform Elgar with no vibrato? Is there such a thing as correct performance? If not, to what extent should we depart from what's written on the page?
Felix Meston

QWhat happened to the Cadogan Hall Saturday Matinees? Last year two of my favourite concerts fell in this series. Please consider bringing them back, they were well attended and provided a great venue for smaller scale works that the RAH is simply too big for.
Mark Steadman

QWhat is the total cost of staging the Proms over a whole season and how much of this is recovered in Ticket Sales ? I assume you budget pretty accurately for the cost and by now will have a fairly decent idea of total forecast income.
Robin Smith

QWas there any particular reason the Doctor Who Prom started at 11am? My grandson was very keen to attend. Unfortunately as we live in Doncaster & it was a Sunday there were no trains early enough & we would have had to stay overnight Saturday, making it too expensive.
There are quite a few of us who travel fair distances to attend Proms, so perhaps you could bear this in mind for future seasons.
Peter Cook

QThis is not a question - just a comment to say how much I and the family are enjoying the Proms festival this year. I think you have organised an amazing balance of the old and the new, the familiar and the challenging. There is always at least one gem or discovery in every Proms concert. Last Sunday's Messiaen was absolutely spectacular - Keep it going, Roger.
David Buckley

QHaving attended two Proms so far this year, and watched and listened to others, can I congratulate you on three things;

- The imaginative programming at this year's Proms, including Folk Day and Stockhausen Day, which are great ideas.

- The excellence of the paper programmes, which now have real value added, with listening guides etc (I'm not sure when this started as I haven't been for a couple of years)

- And - though this may not be your area of your responsibility - what appears to be greatly improved camerawork at the televised concerts. It's really noticeable to me how much more coherent and artistic the direction is.

Having said all that, I wasn't too sure about the First Night presentation, with Deborah Meadon representing the 'layperson'. I think it was a bit awkward and didn't really work.
Stephen Cviic

Q7.30 PROM Mon 4th Aug: Is it your intention to drive the traditional Prom audience away? Never in previous years have we had to endure so much rubbish from string instrument pluckers, singers(?) and even dancers (in a so called music programme) in so short a time.
Philip Gladstone

QQueues at chamber music Proms: At the I Fagiolini lunchtime Prom at Cadogan Hall there were difficulties processing ticket purchases for Prommers and last-minute purchases. You were stood by the door, and saw the queue, which did not move for quite some time. When the performance began, you went in and took your seat, leaving many frustrated Prommers queueing in the sweltering heat outside, to miss the first piece.

Would it not have been better for you to intervene and have these final Prommers, many of whom had turned up more than 20 minutes before the concert was due to start, admitted free in time for the start of the concert?

I hope you enjoyed the concert in full. I did not.
Rob Smith

QThank-you for the most interesting season for many years, and especially for providing plenty of English music. May I suggest an airing in future years for John Ireland's Piano Concerto (often on the programme when I was a Prommer) and Moeran's Sinfonietta? And could Dohnanyi get a look in? Not only Variations on a Nursery Tune, but also the Suite in F sharp minor (terribly off-putting title, but tuneful and brillianlly scored. Just a thought!
Barry Johnson

QI just want to add my support to the superb early music concert by the Tallis Scholars. Please can we have more early (pre baroque) music in the Proms.
Mark Bedish

QFirst of all thank you for the opportunity to express our views on the Proms, the music, the artists and the performances. I like the general mix of composers, eg Beethoven with Vaughan Williams or Sibelius. However the Proms are becoming a pot pourri of events eg folk music, literary events etc.etc. The Proms should be about traditional classical music. Currently there is too much emphasis on composers like Messaien and Stockhausen. Let's have more of Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar and Haydn.
Joseph McNulty

QEvery year the Proms and R3 widens my horizons and introduces me to new music and musicians from all over the world. However, particularly with the unfamiliar pieces, I have been greatly helped by the scrolling notes at the bottom of the screen, that explained and illuminated what you were hearing, as you were hearing it. I notice that this year, this notes segment has gone, to be replaced by the static notes on the right of the screen. I don't think this is as good. Is there any chance of restoring the other ones?
Joanna Wallis

QTV broadcasts I have watched this year have not been up to the usual BBC standard, the studio is a mistake. Please bring presenters back into the hall and restore the running notes while the music is being played, why were they removed?
Jonathan Bush

QWhat is the policy on which Proms to televise? I am disappointed that tonight's (Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea) is not being televised, given that the visual nature of this semi-staged concert performance would lend itself especially well to a televised broadcast. The sound will be great on Radio 3, but the visual dimension will be missing.
Isabel Watson

QCould you confirm that VW 8th Symphony WILL be shown on the televised broadcast? And if not, can you explain why?
Ralph Spurrier

QJust wondering why the Vaughan-Williams 8th symphony was not broadcast on 2nd August as scheduled on your website? Incidentally, very much enjoying the season so far!
Peter

QWhy can the BBC not synchronize relays of the Proms that are live on TV with Radio3? Years ago this was quite common practice - but in recent years this does not happen. I appreciate this can only happen when the timings are identical on Radio and TV.
Mr. W. L. Francis

QMy wife and I were at last nights Prom and whilst generally enjoying the music felt this enjoyment could have been so much greater had the quality of sound in the auditorium been as good as it was on the radio (we listened to the last 10 mins in our car on way home) I assume this might be possible if the artists sound engineers were as discerning as the BBC Radio engineers - Is this correct and if so could something be done in future to ensure the quality of sound in the auditorium for concerts with amplified sound is raised? Also I felt the use of bright and garish lights flashing to the beat of the music was trite and demeaning and detracted rather than added to the musical experience - it would have been far better if the time and money spent on lighting had been redirected into improving the sound - why was it felt to be necessary?
Chris Ben

QApart from three song transcriptions in Prom 48, and an item in Lang Lang's recital, there are no major works by Schubert. Year after year Schubert gets the cold shoulder from the Proms organisers. Why?
Tony Olsson

QI am yet another disappointed Promenader. Where on Earth is Bruckner this year? I look forward to the Proms every year for one of the few chances to hear live Bruckner symphonies and in one of the great halls for this music. These were always one of the highlights of the season. Bruckner 5 - a great work and the greatest orchestral climax. And you deny us these amazing experiences! Extraordinary decision... You may just about redeem yourself if you give us several to choose from next year.
David Mercer

QIt is always good to highlight composers on their major anniversaries. The coincidence of two of the 20th century greats celebrating their 100th birthday, Messiaen and Carter, makes the prom season this year very interesting indeed. However, there is another composer born in 1908 who has been overlooked.

QGeir Tveitt is much ignored and unjustly so. Based on music of his that survives, he is worthy of performances not only in 2008, but in the future as well.
Philip Jongeneel

Q2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the death of Ernest John ('Jack') Moeran. Whilst this might not be the only excuse for a live re-appraisal of his work, please could you consider including his wonderful Symphony in G minor, or the Violin Concerto or Cello Concerto in a future Proms programme? These pieces have not been heard at the Proms for many years. I should also like to thank you for the inclusion of Bax in this year's season.
Barry Marsh

QHere is another composer to add to the 'missing' list. I absolutely acknowledge that even given the huge number of concerts you cannot fit everything in and please everyone but Malcolm Arnold is and almost always has been greatly ignored. I realise he ruffled a few feathers in his lifetime (surely not yours) but his music is amongst the finest and most popular from a home-grown composer and there is a huge range to choose from. Please remedy this in future years. It's a fact that orchestras love playing his music.
Paul Astell

QGood to see you running the Proms. Perhaps you might be able to encourage a visting or home orchestra to play the neglected Symphony No 5 by Louis Glass which to many ears is a complete masterpiece. Louis Glass was a contemporary with Carl Nielsen, and somewhat overshadowed by him. The 5th Symphony deserves to be played at the Proms.Sir Edward Downes play the piece with the BBC Philharmonic in 1993 (the recording is in the BBC sound archives I believe). So it would be nice to hear this piece again, maybe you could invite Herbert Blomstedt or Michael Schonwandt to conduct it.
Rob Grace

QI enjoy the Proms and always have, but am disappointed at the lack of British music generally (V.W excepted this year and bravo for that!). Why no Britten or Walton? When did you last hear any Bantock at the Proms? I'm sure his richly orchestrated and melodic music would go down a storm. And how about some serious Sullivan WITHOUT Gilbert? Like the Symphony and In Memoriam. You are not giving the Prommers the chance to decide.

QWhen was Smetana's Ma Vlast last played COMPLETE at the Proms? Not for a long time if my memory is to be trusted. I'm sure it would be a huge success, being a fantastic cycle of tone poems. We keep getting the same staple fare at the Proms (do we need Beethoven at all? Ditto Mozart etc). What about the early Dvorak symphonies? (But bravo for the Slavonic Dances Op.46).

QI fully realise that there is simply too much music to fit in, but the above items I have listed would be well-worth an airing. Thanks for reading this!
John Clarke

QI wrote to you earlier in the year expressing my concern that performance on 3 concerts are no longer broadcast as 'live' live concerts, thereby losing an intangible, in terms of ambience and spontaneity.

Listening to the Proms Preview programme this evening, I was intrigued to hear Sarah Walker making my case for me!! If this is how you see the importance of 'live' performances of the Proms, perhaps the philosophy could be extended to other evening concerts? This would also mean that they would be broadcast at a more convenient time.

I would be very interested to hear your views.
Ted Preston

QGreat to have the Proms again and even better to have truly live concerts on R3. Please, please, please can you restore properly live concerts back on R3. They are much missed and I stopped listening for far too long. Please can you reconsider.
Philip Parker

QCould you please try and educate the idiots and philistines who continue to blight this brilliant music festival with their clapping between movements. Its almost as bad as a mobile phone going off. And its only the first night. Please stop it, somehow. Put signs up?
Simon Shaw

QAt first I was excited to see that Prom 16 (Tues 29th July) is to be broadcast on TV. Now I discover that the broadcast will only be 'edited highlights' - and that those 'highlights' will be the Bruch Violin concerto and the Strauss Till Eulenspiegel.

Why was it decided not to broadcast the real highlight of that Prom - Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.8?

The Bruch and the Strauss get performed regularly on the concert circuit - but RVWs 8th is (unjustly) seldom performed. I hope that in this special 50th anniversary year for Vaughan Williams, some special efforts would be made to feature some of his great works.

The 8th is a wonderful, approachable work, full of excitement and very uplifting. I think that the huge array of percussion would make for great television, especially in the gamelan-like finale. The Bruch and especially the Strauss are pedestrian by comparison.
Mike Edwards

QThe Proms brochure promised that tonight's performance of Vaughan Williams' 8th symphony was to be recorded for showing on BBC2 this saturday.

Alas from the BBC2 schedule it appears it has been replaced by R. Strauss.

If true a great pity. This Symphony was written for the Halle and is a spectacular piece both aurally and visually.

Is there anything you can do to get it shown? you will see from the message boards that a lot of others are disappointed.
Robin Barber

QLast year the first two/three weeks of the proms were televised (as well as isolated concerts and a block towards the end) Why is just the the odd prom being televised and when they are they clash with a live recording of a different prom on Radio 3. (July 26th)? BBC Proms? I think not, there's much more sport on television, particularly football.
Carolyn Thorneloe

QIt is very difficult for me to get to London for concerts these days; the televising of the Proms is of huge importance and pleasure to me. Question: Who decides - and how - what and how much gets televised? Can I make some points?

Why no Proms chamber music, or some of the more intimate concerts broadcast? I strongly believe that the route to classical music for many young people is through smaller scale or even solo works with young performers, especially those that are good communicators. I have brought quite a few people to music over the years; Bach cello suites need to come before Brahms symphonies.

I have heard that one objection to televising concerts is that cameras are distracting to the live audience . Quite understand. But I would much rather have a few static cameras than a concert not televised at all, even if TV producers are left feeling dissatisfied. (Just remind them that their customers are not their peers, but the viewers ) I wonder too, in an age when it is technically possible to have a camera in the middle stump at Lords, do you really need machines and crew floating dalek-like around the stage? And it seems obvious that televising solo or chamber performances could be done quite discretely.

Love Hazlewood and Co. Bit worried about celebs, but glad I have missed any gardeners so far this year.

Is there EVER a night on BBC4 when there is not at least one programme likely to attract less viewers, or be of lesser quality, than a televised Prom?

We are extremely fortunate to have Radio3. I hate to admit this but television brings a huge amount more. If the Proms is about ACCESS, my plea is for more on TV, more that is representative of classical music (and the Proms) as a whole, made less expensively if cost is the issue. The case seems overwhelming; I would love to know the real reason why it doesn't happen.

Best wishes for the rest of the season.
Peter Ashton

QI know this question is raised again and again but considering we now have so many television channels broadcasting every night it is impossible to fill all the time available with quality programmes so surely the BBC could manage many more television broadcasts from the Proms. It would be great if we could see most if not all the visiting orchestras who are always clearly delighted to be invited to what now must be the greatest music festival in the world. Some of the programming is suspect but you will never please everyone and overall it is a great success and I wish you well for the future.
Paul C. Lewis

QWhy continue to go live to masses waving flags in fields when the unique value of the Prom is within the Albert Hall itself. By doing so you destroy the atmosphere being created within the hall. Not sure this is within you remit,, but is again a sign of Dumbing Down?
Jim Tadgell

QCongratulations on commissioning the younger generation of composers such as Anna Meredith and Stuart MacRae, but regarding Chinese composers, why does the BBC keep commissioning (and performing) solely the same few from the first generation like Chen Yi, Tan Dun, Zhou Long and Bright Sheng?
Rachel

Q Thank you for raising the standard of programme and expectation to such a huge degree. For far too long we have all had to put up with the play safe ethos as exposed by far too many people (including far, far too many festival directors in general). When I looked at this year's Proms prosepctus I thought two things: 'hooray', and 'which ones do I want to go to most of all?' (as there are SO many). I felt privileged to be at the Messiaen last night (La Transfiguration) and will be at more than I've ever been to in a season.

Thank you for setting a standard for others to aspire to! (...as they surely must!)
Paul Edlin

QWhere is the fountain?
Paul White