{"id":2020316,"date":"2025-09-14T00:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T00:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2020316"},"modified":"2025-09-14T00:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T00:55:14","slug":"a-programme-light-as-puff-pastry-and-altogether-wonderful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/a-programme-light-as-puff-pastry-and-altogether-wonderful\/","title":{"rendered":"A programme light as puff pastry and altogether wonderful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As the Proms reminds us every year, music is a wonderful pacifier. While London was convulsed with Union flag wavers angrily facing off Free Palestine banners, the Royal Albert Hall was surrounded by smiling Prommers of a certain age in Pac-a-macs waving EU flags. Once inside, it was the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/music\/classical-music\/proms-2025-sam-jackson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:usual sea of Union flags;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">usual sea of Union flags<\/a> alongside flags of all nations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The sight set us up nicely for the programme, which was friendly and light as puff pastry. It wasn\u2019t always thus. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/music\/classical-music\/best-bbc-proms-2025-what-to-book\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Last Night;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">The Last Night<\/a> used to kick off with a proper meat-and-two-veg symphony, with a side mung bean salad of modernism, before treble helpings of cherry trifle waltzes, comic \u201cnovelties\u201d and rousing patriotic sing-alongs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">These days it\u2019s cherry trifle from the word go. The BBC Symphony Orchestra under conductor Elim Chan kicked off the evening with a thrilling burst of Russian-style diabolism with Mussorgsky\u2019s Night on the Bare Mountain. Then came star trumpeter Alison Balsom, marking her farewell to professional music-making with a performance of the trumpet concerto by a little-known pupil of Mozart, Johann Nepomuk Hummel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Attendees waved Union flags enthusiastically during the show, against a backdrop of protesters carrying the flag in London &#8211; Belinda Jiao\/Belinda Jiao<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The outer movements had a superb, muscular precision, while the central slow movement had a lovely Mozartian lyricism. It was altogether wonderful, and made one regret that Balsom is leaving the stage so young (though she did pop back later, to play some sassy trumpet riffs with players from the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Bernstein\u2019s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After the concerto came a parade of occasional pieces, arias, and what <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/proms\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Proms;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">Proms<\/a> founder Sir Henry Wood would have called \u201cnovelties\u201d. Among the highlights was soprano Louise Alder, who made that insufferably pert and sugary Jewel Song from Charles Gounod\u2019s Faust seem charming, and she was also winning in a medley of songs from My Fair Lady, even though the songs were pitched too low for her. Comedian Bill Bailey showed an unsuspected rhythmic virtuosity, typing away furiously in Leroy Anderson\u2019s The Typewriter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Among the new pieces, Lucy Walker\u2019s tiny jewel of a choral number Today was radiantly innocent, as was Rachel Portman\u2019s The Gathering Tree, in a Scottish folky sort of way. The only disappointment was Fireworks, a perfect specimen of the \u201cAmerican corporate triumphalism\u201d school of orchestral showpiece that just happened to be composed by a Frenchwoman, Camille P\u00e9pin.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Roger Taylor and Sir Brian May joined an orchestral arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody, to big cheers from the audience\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"600\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/qLw8z68WRfUty03Rr8a4LA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYwMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_telegraph_258\/6ecfe1dd2b21aa2fe0ad5ea35884cdd6\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Roger Taylor and Sir Brian May joined an orchestral arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody, to big cheers from the audience &#8211; Jeff Moore\/PA<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">All this was carried off by the BBC Singers, Symphony Orchestra and Singers with great panache under the superbly alert, smiling control of Chan, who reminded us in her speech how lucky we are in Britain to enjoy complete freedom in cultural matters. That felt especially meaningful coming from someone who was raised in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But the evening\u2019s real highlight was the orchestral arrangement of Queen\u2019s Bohemian Rhapsody. As the Orchestra, Singers and guest solo singer belted out those famous lines \u201ceasy come, easy go, little high, little low\u201d, on came two original members of Queen to lend a helping hand \u2013 Sir Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on tam-tam. If the Proms had somehow magicked up the shade of Henry Wood himself the audience couldn\u2019t have been more ecstatic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Listen to and watch the Last Night on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/customer\/subscribe\/01doysa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"><b>Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Proms reminds us every year, music is a wonderful pacifier. While London was convulsed with Union flag wavers angrily facing off Free Palestine banners, the Royal Albert Hall was surrounded by smiling Prommers of a certain age in Pac-a-macs waving EU flags. Once inside, it was the usual sea of Union flags alongside [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2020317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[371176,371177,371178,371179,25741,349541,371180],"class_list":["post-2020316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-alison-balsom","tag-bbc-symphony-orchestra","tag-cherry-trifle","tag-flags-of-all-nations","tag-london","tag-royal-albert-hall","tag-union-flag"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/A-programme-light-as-puff-pastry-and-altogether-wonderful.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2020316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2020317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2020316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2020316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2020316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}