On Random

Life The BBC Proms began tonight with Walton's Overture 'Portsmouth Point', a very personal presentation of Elgar's Concerto for Cello in E minor from soloist Paul Watkins and a heart stopping rendition of Beethoven's 9th. That sentence suggests I actually know what I'm talking about, but this is the first First Night of the Proms I've actually remembered to watch and more than that the first in which I actually felt like I was appreciating the music.

Unlike some other art forms, I've had rather a random understanding of classical music -- a bit of this and that, a recognition of individual movements along with a sprinkling of being able to identify the work of a few of the 'a-list' composers. I certainly couldn't recognise the soloist or conductor just from listening to a piece and if you played two different recordings of a symphony, I wouldn't be able to say which orchestra could be heard.

But tonight, watching that choir lurch into the so called 'Ode To Joy' with such a force it seemed to rattle the foundations of the Albert Hall and make the promenaders apparently have to stand rigid lest they be blown over by the shock waves (I exaggerate but it must have been earth-shattering in the hall) I understood for the first time what can be accomplished by professional musicians and singers putting their heart and soul into interpreting the work of a composer at the top of his personal and professional pinnacle.

I can't wait to hear more of this.