To the Albert Hall on Thursday evening for my second Prom: the Hallé, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, playing Wagner, Debussy and Stravinsky.
Male members of the orchestra wore white tie and tails. I only mention it because the temperature was in the low 30s and few Prommers wore a coat. I wore a natty, blue and white striped cotton coat – the sort of thing that would cause Jeeves to plan stratagems for its destruction. When I wore it in France my cousin Jonathan asked me if I was selling ice creams.
I was pleased to have secured my favourite seats: side stalls, close to the stage, just behind the violins. It gave us a good view of the orchestra and Mark Elder coaxing them along. It’s astonishing that he is 71 – he doesn’t look it. He kicked off with the overture to Tannhäuser and, although it is so well known as to be almost hackneyed, nothing beats having it played live at short-range in front of you.
The next piece provided a contrast – Debussy’s cantata La damoiselle élue, first performed in Paris in 1893. It is based on a poem by Rossetti, sung in French by a Narrator, The Blessed Damozel and the female voices of the Hallé Choir and the Hallé Youth Choir. A critic at the premiere said with disapproval: “très sensuelle et décadente”. That would surely be an accolade today.
After the interval (I had a big glass of white wine to avoid dehydration) there were two pieces by Stravinsky, The Song of the Nightingale and The Firebird, and an excellent dinner at Ognisko. The week ahead offers a contrasting cultural programme.