Doctor Who Prom
Jul. 26th, 2010 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963This is the first chance I've had today to get online for any length of time to pontificate about the Doctor Who Prom yesterday night.
It's ages since I've been to the Albert Hall. It's not my favourite venue because the acoustic is so odd, but there's always a fantastic atmosphere at the Proms. It's the first time I've taken my kids to a concert, which is something I've been meaning to get around to for a while.
I managed to get some tickets on the day booking opened - although not the ones I'd wanted. We were up in the Circle, with a clear view of the stage and the big screen (and others that were dotted around) - my Promming days are long gone, I'm afraid. I did it a lot when I was younger, but these days, my back can't take standing up for long periods - and anyway, unless we'd managed to get to the front, the kids wouldn't have been able to see anything, so sitting was a better option.
Anyway. The orchestra was on fine form - I only heard a couple of bum notes! (Believe me, I've heard some pretty ropey performances by professional orchestras in my time). There was a good selection of music, most of it from Series 5 - and while that's not surprising, it was a little disappointing. There's enough top-notch music by Murray to fill an entire concert, and while I recognise (of course) that this is the Proms and they're going to pepper something like this with "classical favourites", I'm not a fan of that sort of concert programme.
I worked in the record industry for a number of years before I left to have a family, and was working at the time when the classical market in particular had been struggling and was starting to concentrate a lot of its effort and money on the crossover market. I spent a considerable amount of time spouting on about how crossover recordings were expanding the market for classical music; how Classic FM was bringing classical music to a much bigger audience etc. etc. But really, it's all bollocks. Or mostly bollocks. All those things do is boost the sales of crossover albums and "greatest classical bits" albums. Okay, so in the audience last night, there's a good chance that most of them will have listened to all of Holst's The Planets - it might have been a Doctor Who audience, but it was also a Proms audience. But in general people don't listen to the overture from The Marriage of Figaro and go out and buy a 3 CD set of the entire opera.
Yeah, I'm wandering from the point a bit - which is basically that I don't think Roger Wright (the man in charge of the Proms and an ex-colleague of mine, incidentally) needed to "pad" the concert out with classical "bits", even though I sorta know why he did it.
But enough of the moaning - onto the good stuff! And there was a LOT of good stuff. I've been a fan of Murray's music for a while now, and I really do think that he's one of the best composers working in TV and film today. And actually I should include Ben Foster in that, because it's a collaborative effort in that Ben is the orchestrator - and if you're a music nerd (like me) the instrumentations are frequently as interesting as what's actually being played.
The concert opened with the new Doctor theme (which I love) - with Melanie Pappenheim regenerated into Yamit Mamo (who appeared in Voyage of the Damned and on the S3 and S4 soundtrack albums) - and then we heard some of the music from the first episode, when the TARDIS crashed and the Doctor met Amelia for the first time. Later there was I am the Doctor which is basically that melody in 7/8 that's been played throughout the series (and which I've had on the brain for ages!) and the first half finished with music from Victory of the Daleks. I have to say, I haven't rewatched that episode at all - but I'll have to now, because the music was fabulous. In the second half - the highlight of which was a lovely, bonkers appearance from the man himself - there was a medley of music from Vampires of Venice, Vincent and the Doctor and the Angels and Silurian two-parters. For me, that was the least musically satisfying piece of the concert. During the second half we also got three pieces from "past" Who - Gallifrey, our Childhood Home, Vale Decem and Song of Freedom.
Anyone listening on the radio might have been a bit confused by the intermittent bursts of cheering and applause during Gallifrey; we were watching a montage of all the Doctor's regenerations (those that exist on film) and each new Doctor was greeted with clapping and cheering. Gallifrey ended with the appearance of Eight, and the music was arranged to run into Vale Decem as Nine appeared on screen and then we saw his regeneration and... the place went nuts when Ten turned up. We got most of the regeneration scene and yes, I cried. But that is without a doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, and Mark Chambers (the countertenor) has an incredible voice. Hearing it live was a real mixed blessing - on the one hand, I got the full impact of a live performance, and on the other... I got the full impact of a live performance!
After that, Matt galloped onto the stage and introduced the Pandorica Suite, which was followed by Song of Freedom which seems to have become a bit of a Who 'anthem'. I have no problems with that - it's another fantastic piece of music - but whoever had the idea of suggesting (in the bloody programme!) that people clap along? Just - don't. It doesn't work, because of the slow pulse and it RUINS a gorgeous piece of music.
Following the theme of other Who concerts - the Theme (!) was played last. And I have to say, it sounds a lot better live than it does over the opening credits. I don't mind the new fanfare or the addition of the chorus; my issue is with whatever they've replaced the Theremin with and the rather "pop-py" drum riffs.
I didn't have time to hang around afterwards to see if I could bag any autographs - I had the kids with me, and I was sure it'd be a scrum-and-a-half! In any case, we had a train to catch and as is typical at the weekends, half the Underground was suspended for engineering work, so I wanted to make sure we didn't end up stranded at Liverpool Street!
I'm still surprised they didn't have a Soundtrack album out in time for this - they'd have sold shedloads!
Oh - the whole thing is available on the iPlayer for the next week and is definitely worth a listen. Being in the audience, I didn't get to listen to the interval talk, but I listened this morning, and that's worth it, too - many of the people who've created/written music for DW over the past 47 years talking about their experience of writing music for aliens!
(If you're interested, but can't find it online, let me know.)
It's ages since I've been to the Albert Hall. It's not my favourite venue because the acoustic is so odd, but there's always a fantastic atmosphere at the Proms. It's the first time I've taken my kids to a concert, which is something I've been meaning to get around to for a while.
I managed to get some tickets on the day booking opened - although not the ones I'd wanted. We were up in the Circle, with a clear view of the stage and the big screen (and others that were dotted around) - my Promming days are long gone, I'm afraid. I did it a lot when I was younger, but these days, my back can't take standing up for long periods - and anyway, unless we'd managed to get to the front, the kids wouldn't have been able to see anything, so sitting was a better option.
Anyway. The orchestra was on fine form - I only heard a couple of bum notes! (Believe me, I've heard some pretty ropey performances by professional orchestras in my time). There was a good selection of music, most of it from Series 5 - and while that's not surprising, it was a little disappointing. There's enough top-notch music by Murray to fill an entire concert, and while I recognise (of course) that this is the Proms and they're going to pepper something like this with "classical favourites", I'm not a fan of that sort of concert programme.
I worked in the record industry for a number of years before I left to have a family, and was working at the time when the classical market in particular had been struggling and was starting to concentrate a lot of its effort and money on the crossover market. I spent a considerable amount of time spouting on about how crossover recordings were expanding the market for classical music; how Classic FM was bringing classical music to a much bigger audience etc. etc. But really, it's all bollocks. Or mostly bollocks. All those things do is boost the sales of crossover albums and "greatest classical bits" albums. Okay, so in the audience last night, there's a good chance that most of them will have listened to all of Holst's The Planets - it might have been a Doctor Who audience, but it was also a Proms audience. But in general people don't listen to the overture from The Marriage of Figaro and go out and buy a 3 CD set of the entire opera.
Yeah, I'm wandering from the point a bit - which is basically that I don't think Roger Wright (the man in charge of the Proms and an ex-colleague of mine, incidentally) needed to "pad" the concert out with classical "bits", even though I sorta know why he did it.
But enough of the moaning - onto the good stuff! And there was a LOT of good stuff. I've been a fan of Murray's music for a while now, and I really do think that he's one of the best composers working in TV and film today. And actually I should include Ben Foster in that, because it's a collaborative effort in that Ben is the orchestrator - and if you're a music nerd (like me) the instrumentations are frequently as interesting as what's actually being played.
The concert opened with the new Doctor theme (which I love) - with Melanie Pappenheim regenerated into Yamit Mamo (who appeared in Voyage of the Damned and on the S3 and S4 soundtrack albums) - and then we heard some of the music from the first episode, when the TARDIS crashed and the Doctor met Amelia for the first time. Later there was I am the Doctor which is basically that melody in 7/8 that's been played throughout the series (and which I've had on the brain for ages!) and the first half finished with music from Victory of the Daleks. I have to say, I haven't rewatched that episode at all - but I'll have to now, because the music was fabulous. In the second half - the highlight of which was a lovely, bonkers appearance from the man himself - there was a medley of music from Vampires of Venice, Vincent and the Doctor and the Angels and Silurian two-parters. For me, that was the least musically satisfying piece of the concert. During the second half we also got three pieces from "past" Who - Gallifrey, our Childhood Home, Vale Decem and Song of Freedom.
Anyone listening on the radio might have been a bit confused by the intermittent bursts of cheering and applause during Gallifrey; we were watching a montage of all the Doctor's regenerations (those that exist on film) and each new Doctor was greeted with clapping and cheering. Gallifrey ended with the appearance of Eight, and the music was arranged to run into Vale Decem as Nine appeared on screen and then we saw his regeneration and... the place went nuts when Ten turned up. We got most of the regeneration scene and yes, I cried. But that is without a doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, and Mark Chambers (the countertenor) has an incredible voice. Hearing it live was a real mixed blessing - on the one hand, I got the full impact of a live performance, and on the other... I got the full impact of a live performance!
After that, Matt galloped onto the stage and introduced the Pandorica Suite, which was followed by Song of Freedom which seems to have become a bit of a Who 'anthem'. I have no problems with that - it's another fantastic piece of music - but whoever had the idea of suggesting (in the bloody programme!) that people clap along? Just - don't. It doesn't work, because of the slow pulse and it RUINS a gorgeous piece of music.
Following the theme of other Who concerts - the Theme (!) was played last. And I have to say, it sounds a lot better live than it does over the opening credits. I don't mind the new fanfare or the addition of the chorus; my issue is with whatever they've replaced the Theremin with and the rather "pop-py" drum riffs.
I didn't have time to hang around afterwards to see if I could bag any autographs - I had the kids with me, and I was sure it'd be a scrum-and-a-half! In any case, we had a train to catch and as is typical at the weekends, half the Underground was suspended for engineering work, so I wanted to make sure we didn't end up stranded at Liverpool Street!
I'm still surprised they didn't have a Soundtrack album out in time for this - they'd have sold shedloads!
Oh - the whole thing is available on the iPlayer for the next week and is definitely worth a listen. Being in the audience, I didn't get to listen to the interval talk, but I listened this morning, and that's worth it, too - many of the people who've created/written music for DW over the past 47 years talking about their experience of writing music for aliens!
(If you're interested, but can't find it online, let me know.)
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 01:20 am (UTC)the music was arranged to run into Vale Decem as Nine appeared on screen and then we saw his regeneration and... the place went nuts when Ten turned up. We got most of the regeneration scene and yes, I cried.
Aww. That alone made me sniff a bit, so I don't blame you at all for crying.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 03:18 pm (UTC)Vale Decem reduces me to tears every time I hear it. On its own, it's a very beautiful and moving piece of music, but when you know what's going on, I suppose the associations make it even more sad. Whatever the reason, it never fails to make me weep and I feel like such a sap, but I can't help it!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 01:58 am (UTC)It's all wonderful though. One year I need to make the trek to attend!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 06:51 am (UTC)I cried when Ten regenerated. And when Vincent showed up.
Also, is it just me or does Karen have ridiculously thin knobbly legs???
Great review
Date: 2010-07-26 08:05 am (UTC)Mark Chambers was off the hook. He provided the Doomsday moment.
Re: Great review
Date: 2010-07-26 09:12 am (UTC)I'm really glad they got Mark Chambers in for this - he has an extraordinary voice and I don't think those items would have been the same with anyone else singing.
Re: Great review
Date: 2010-07-26 10:13 am (UTC)Mark was heartbreaking.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 09:16 am (UTC)Vale Decem never fails to turn on my waterworks - even without the pictures it's an incredibly moving experience to hear it, but throw the pictures in and I'm a complete mess. EoT was on the other night, and I still couldn't watch it. I am such a sap.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 08:46 pm (UTC)But then, when we went to the LNOTP, we sat behind a bunch of Germans who had *no* clue WTF the second half was about. I can only guess that they were there on some kind of package deal and didn't know what it entailed.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 09:47 am (UTC)Yes, I quite understand what your problem is with it, but I think he had to because there might have been very snooty questions asked about why the BBC was devoting two entire problems to Doctor Who music. I think it stand perfectly well on its own, but that might be a controversial view.
Anyone listening on the radio might have been a bit confused by the intermittent bursts of cheering and applause
Yes, it was a little confusing but I had a fair idea of what was going on. The loud cheer definitely said TEN to me *g*.
I thought the interval talk was absolutely fascinating and a wonderful illustration of how much creativity went in to making a programme on what was basically a shoestring budget.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 03:12 pm (UTC)I wondered, sitting there, if it was my imagination that the cheer for Ten could have blown the roof off, but listening on iPlayer, it was clear it wasn't!
Good review
Date: 2010-07-26 03:30 pm (UTC)I was there with my nine and five-year-old boys. They actually really enjoyed the non-Who pieces (except the Walton, which was a bit powder-puff!). I think the idea is that it works the same way as a normal Prom in that the most popular pieces are accompanied by works that people wouldn't normally listen to, in the hope that they will enjoy something that's new to them and go away wanting to hear more.
This may explain why both my boys spent some of Sunday afternoon with their new BBC Proms batons (their mother is a sucker for merchandise!), conducting their way through a 'Favourite Classics' CD!
Agree that Murray Gold's music worked well (the female soloist was VERY nervous though, bless her) but it would've been good to have other bits not from series 5.
In all, though, it was a fantastic evening.
Kevin
Re: Good review
Date: 2010-07-26 03:52 pm (UTC)Aww - that's sweet! My girls are (almost) 11 and 8 and I think enjoyed the other pieces (mostly) and insisted on singing along with the Wagner - "Kill de Waaaaabit!" (thank you, Mel Blanc!)
I know they'd have loved to have heard All the Strange, Strange Creatures and some of the other wonderful "set pieces" from earlier series. But yes, it's a "typical Prom" thing to do; and I completely understand why they do it, but maybe I'm just too cynical from years in the business.
Re: Good review
Date: 2010-07-26 08:51 pm (UTC)Too damn right!!!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-27 10:32 am (UTC)I agree, though, more of Murray's incredible music would've been better than the classical interludes, especially more from S4+ since we are kept waiting for the new soundtrack album (thank goodness for 'unofficial releases'!). I have about worn out my soundtrack CDs and can't wait for the next issue- just hope they include enough from the end of RTD era Who to satisfy me.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-27 02:20 pm (UTC)The cheer for Ten was rather nice :-)
Like I've said in the post and other comments, I know why the programme was arranged in this way, but it's still a shame we couldn't have heard more of Murray's music. They need to do a concert outside the Proms umbrella where they can devote the whole programme to music from the osundtracks, like they did back in 2006 with the Children in Need concert in Cardiff.
Titles like Battle in the Skies, Liz, Lizards, Vampires and Vincent and The Pandorica Suite sound suspiciously like album track titles to me. I really hope that the S5 OST will be coming soon, and that it includes music from the specials. The only thing with that though, is that there's a bit of a branding problem (this is me with my ex-industry hat on!). Unless it's a double album and then do different front and back covers or something like that.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-27 09:33 pm (UTC)I listened to it on the radio, and as you say, was confused about the people cheering in the middle of the song. I thought "these people are so rude!". Now I understand!
Oh, I'd love to attend a DW Prom and listen to Song of Freedom live... but I live on the other side of the world, so it's a bit complicated. I'm glad you enjoyed!
no subject
Date: 2010-07-27 10:02 pm (UTC)The good thing about Radio 3 broascasts is that they're incredibly good and the sound quality is often better than that in the venue!