And so, the world's greatest classical music festival, the 113th season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC (to give it its full title!), is over, at least for this year. It marks the end, too, for Nicholas Kenyon, who after twelve years as Director of the BBC Proms leaves the BBC for the Barbican Centre, where he will replace Sir John Tusa as managing director.
It remains to be seen how Kenyon's tenure will be best remembered, for this season alone has not been without controversy, with accusations of 'ghettoising contemporary music' being thrown at the director, as well as extraordinarily polarised reactions at the inclusion of a Prom featuring musical theatre star Michael Ball (Prom 58). The season marked the completion of the Proms Ring Cycle with a performance of Götterdämmerung (Prom 39) and there were other forays beyond the somewhat limiting world of the traditional canon and an emphasis placed on more accessible (some said 'populist') Proms including the Blue Peter Proms (Proms 10 & 12), Brass Day (Proms 20 & 21), and family-orientated Proms, some token attempts at ethnic diversity from Nitin Sawheny and friends (Prom 37), and a nod to jazz with Cleo Laine and John Dankworth (Prom 35) and the sold-out Marcus Roberts Trio performing Gershwin (Prom 41).
Although Mr Kenyon rebuked comments that he was in turn neglecting new music, there was insufficient evidence in the programming to allow him to clear the bar in that regard. There were various UK, European and World premieres, including Thea Musgrave's Two's Company (Prom 63), Elliott Carter's Three Illusions (Prom 71), Sam Hayden's Substratum (Prom 5) and BBC commissions, Brett Dean's Vexations and Devotions (Prom 13) and John Adams' Doctor Atomic Symphony (Prom 50), none of which, however, were particularly high profile, or well-attended. Even the presence of John Adams as conductor for the World Premiere performance of the Doctor Atomic Symphony drew little attention from the media and audience attendance suffered. Moreover, the more intimate settings of the Chamber Music Proms are, sadly, only realistic for those who are not in full-time employment, and the commendable late-night Proms are restricted to a London-centric audience.
That said, BBC are currently rejoicing in the statistics that show audience levels are up on last year, more concerts were televised thanks to coverage on BBC Four and thirty-four out of seventy-two concerts were sold out. Indeed, the roster of first class orchestra and conductors that never fail to bring in the crowds were in attendance, but these were almost exclusively scheduled in the last two weeks. The most notable exception to this rule was Kurt Masur's appearance in week one with both his orchestras, the London Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France (Prom 7), and this was most likely because the concert was his own birthday celebration.
What is most unfortunate about this rather end-heavy programming is that it becomes difficult to appreciate the talent with which we are so generously bestowed, and ultimately a number of these concerts did not live up to expectations. Whilst giving an exemplary performance of Sibelius Symphony No 2, Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Proms 60 and 62) were otherwise under whelming. The concerts with Bernard Haitink and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Proms 53 and 55) were restrained. Michael Tilson Thomas was greeted with success for his reading of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 but rather more mixed views for his interpretation of Mahler's Symphony No. 7 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Proms 64 & 65).
Although Riccardo Chailly made an impressive debut with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Prom 69), James Levine and the Boston Symphony (Proms 70 & 71), failed to reach dizzying expectations, particularly in the penultimate Prom. In part, I feel obliged to add that I am sceptical at the abilities of an American orchestra - albeit one of the major American orchestras - to do justice to traditional works from the Austro-Germanic canon, but is not one of music's fundamental qualities, and indeed the purpose of the Proms, to transcend such cultural and geographical boundaries? To that end, one need only refer to the stunning performance of all-Russian repertoire by the very English London Symphony Orchestra (Prom 59).
The Vienna Philharmonic (Proms 66 and 68) is quite possibly incapable of performing badly but as a conductor Barenboim was less compelling. Furthermore, the accompanying racist and chauvinistic rumblings are becoming too loud for anyone to justify still featuring the orchestra. Admittedly it is one of the best in the world, but perhaps refusals to feature this orchestra in festivals and venues across the world is necessary to force more swift change in player-selection policy. Yet, the pinnacle of all these performances for me came from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Claudio Abbado (Prom 51). Whilst it may not have satisfied all critics, I for one fulfilled a personal ambition in experiencing Abbado conducting Mahler, and for that would forgive almost anything. Along with tenuous Shakespeare, Elgar and Sibelius themes, it was unofficially the year of the diva (with Proms that featured performances from Renee Fleming (Prom 32), Anne Sophie von Otter (Prom 22) and a show-stealing Anna Netrebko at the Last Night (Prom 72)) and the young conductor. Vladimir Jurowski brought a semi-staged production of Verdi's Macbeth from Glyndebourne (Prom 15), and Ilan Volkov impressed with a promising interpretation of Mahler's Symphony No 9 (Prom 26). The most talked about Prom of the season, however, came from the incandescent young conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela (Prom 48), whose unreserved joy and exuberance possibly distilled the essence of the Proms. These young musicians demonstrated just how accessible and enjoyable classical music can be, and it was impossible for anyone, from absolute amateur to academic, to resist being swept up in the tumult of exhilaration, and will remain my most enduring of Proms memories.
For next year's season, scheduled for 18 July - 13 September, all eyes fall to new director Roger Wright. After a radical overhaul of the BBC Radio 3 schedule one can only eagerly await to see what changes await for 2008.
What are your BBC Proms highlights?
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