I should really research who I’m going to be seeing at the Proms.  The main event being Beethoven, I didn’t even bother to looking up the other 2 acts, ignorantly presuming the music would be just like the main event.  Well how wrong was I?

The first piece was Jonathan Dove’s We Are One Fire, a choir who at times seemed to be singing two different songs at the same time, resulting in a piece that came across as disjointed and quite scary. The choir sounded like a group of angry Angels who’d just discovered somebody had left the toilet seat up.

The 2nd was…interesting I suppose.  I guess you can call it organised chaos. The music is hard to describe in words, but if you imagined the sound of a thousand monkeys let loose in a music shop then you’d get the idea.  As random as it sounded though, these musicians were actually following a conductor, who was flopping his arms around casually like a Seal.  Impressive musicianship, but it should have gone on for 5 minutes instead of 20.

The interval finally came, and a few of the audience appear to had gone mad through the music (or more likely, the heat). An obese lady near us was shouting at 2 Chinese ladies in front of her as they were using their phones during the performance. I’d never seen an argument at the proms before, and not sure I want to ever again. It just felt so out of place, like Postman Pat stealing money from Christmas Cards. I prefer the Albert Hall to be a refuge away from all the drama from outside.

An old lady sitting next to us however moved seats next to the Chinese ladies for a long chat. Maybe she enjoyed the drama and gossip, which was great for me and my leg room.

The headline act soon came on, and of course didn’t disappoint at all.  When you hear the famous Ode to Joy ringing out around the Albert Hall, you really couldn’t ask for more.

Beethoven of course had lost his hearing by the time he wrote this. It’s hard to imagine doing much when you’re deaf. Maybe I could watch the TV with subtitles, or enjoy a stroll down the park, but composing a musical score sounds incredibly difficult. Next time i get frustrated when I have trouble doing my flies up I’ll remember the more difficult tasks other people do.

Overall an amazing night at the Proms that had everything; great music, some iffy music, some drama between obese and Chinese people and an old lady who loves gossip.