WALTZING IN LONDON

Everyone has heard about the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London – a well-known classical music summer festival in the capital of England.

Nevertheless, many unenlightened fans of classical music are unable to guess the meaning of the word Proms in the festival name. So did I until last Saturday. My love for the Viennese Golden era music forced me to face my ignorance.

To look literally at its meaning ! It came in the form of an ugly empty space called arena in the middle of the auditorium of the Royal Albert Hall .

While I was sitting comfortable in my swing chair, a large group of people assembled in the arena.

Some people were sitting on the floor, others were standing up, all looking casual, yet excited.

What could probably possess these people to choose the discomfort of standing over to the convenience of the velvet-dressed seats?

There was no time to ponder.

The orchestra came on stage and the Finnish conductor Anna-Maria Helsing gracefully raised her baton.

Everyone in the arena stood up. The plain middle space disappeared under the arena members and suddenly we all were united. The musicians, the audience, the TV and Radio crew – we all were one, dancing the waltz of Johann Strauss II.

I guessed the first row of the standing up community had the best view, right in front of the orchestra. May be it was worth it to sacrifice the luxury of the seat for the opportunity of listening and observing the musicians close up.

Or may be not.

Nowadays the Royal Albert Hall offers a very impressive sound quality. Before 1969 a strong echo caused by the roof design presented a real acoustic issue. Visitors joked that the echo helped them to hear the music twice for the price of one ticket.

Everything changed when acoustic diffusers (fibreglass discs) were installed on the ceiling of the hall. They effectively reflect the sound back to the auditorium and were lovingly named “mushrooms”.

The rising star of the Metropolitan Opera, the American soprano Erin Morley made her debut on the stage. The audience cheered her enthusiastically.

At the interval time I asked a family in front of me how long the break was gong to be. They replied “Usually 20 min.” With accent on usually. There is some pride in being a regular at the Proms.

The programme continued with popular and not so famous Viennese musical pieces – exactly the intention of the co-founders Robert Newman and Henry Wood more than 125 years ago. They aimed to popularise classical music with a large audience.

“By the beautiful blue Danube” waltz’s popularity goes without any question and deserves the special privilege of being the final piece of the concert. It is the best musical piece full of magic, beauty and nostalgia.

Finally, the secret behind the name Proms. The reference comes from the popular tradition called Promming.

Promming means to stand up in the middle arena or in the galleries of the theatre. One of the definite attractions of Promming is on the cheap price of the ticket. It costs only £8 and can be bought on the day of the concert from 9:30 in the morning.

For the very popular concerts the prommmers need to queue almost all day but who understand the joy of queuing better than the British people.

Prommers bring a special element of informality, disorganisation and enthusiasm to the Royal Albert Hall that breaks the seriousness and stiffness of classical concerts.

Still, I prefer to enjoy this gorgeous Viennese music pleasantly leaning on the back of my chair.