Waiting for the second half of the First Night of the Proms to start.
As Dave was out this evening, I thought I might take myself out also and initially thought I'd go and see Barbie, until I realised it doesn't open till next week. I remembered the Proms was starting and got the second to last ticket.
Worked from home, watching the intermittently light then heavy rain. Cooked broccoli, potatoes and veggie burgers for an early supper and so that Dave would have something in his stomach before meeting his old school friends for a drink.
Still raining when I left and as I arrived at the Royal Albert Hall. Wonderful evening with Finnish-Ukrainian Dalia Stasevska conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She's also married to Sibelius's great-grandson.
Programme included Finlandia - this and other heart-rending Sibelius works I've found hard to listen to since the invasion of Ukraine, what with the resonances (Sibelius having composed it when Finland was part of the Russian empire). It makes me cry at the best of times. Plus a new piece by Ukrainian composer Bohdana Frolyak, where the consumptives in the audience managed to cough through the beautifully delicate final moments.
Rest of the programme included Grieg's piano concerto, another uncommon Sibelius, Snofrid, with narration by a gloriously glittery Lesley Manville, and Britten's Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Tried a different way home, getting a very crowded bus to Green Park - could have got cross with all the old people having to stand, but those sitting were old too - the demographics of the Proms!
Home to wait for Dave who wasn't that far behind me.
3 good things
1. Spontaneous evenings out.
2. The almost mothballed, but saved due to the public outcry, BBC Singers got a pre-performance shout-out and massive round of applause.
3. Being a woman in 2023 rather than 1895 when the Proms started - I'd have had to have been a brave one to go out to a concert unaccompanied then.
Umbrellas at the Royal Albert Hall
https://365project.org/boxplayer/extras/2023-07-14
14 July 2023
South Kensington SW7
Ian