We open this year's SWC prom season with LA Philharmonic and its music director Dudamel. After two decades of absence from the prom, it will be a real treat to hear them on this rare occasion.
To book your ticket: please click here. Alternatively, you can buy day promming ticket from 9:30am on the day, costs £8.
Post Concert F&B - Due to the early start of this prom at 6pm, we will meet after the concert at The Dutchess of Kensington, 25 Gloucester Road for food and drink. A table for 8 is booked, there are two places still available, first come first served.
PS- our earlier plan for picnic is scrapped due to restrictions of RAH for bringing food and drinks into their premises.
Interval Meeting Place - meet outside door 3 at the interval
There will be a WhatsApp group set up for this event. Please email swcsocialATgmailDOTcom with your mobile number if you wish to be on it.
Programme
Beethoven Symphony in No. 6 in F major, ‘Pastoral’ 39’
Interval
Thomas Adès Dante – Part 1: Inferno 45’
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Gustavo Dudamel conductor
#2026-08-11T18:00
3 comments:
Some walkers have booked choir seats.
Part 1
Our 2026 Proms kicked off with a BIG bang!!.... WOW! What an incredible concert! One of those rare evenings that leaves a lasting imprint on both brain and heart. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, made even better by excellent music and company.
As the concert started at 6pm, we skipped our usual pre-Proms picnic at the customary spot. Well… most of us did. Three determined picnic enthusiasts decided that no early start should stand between them and their picnic, so they went ahead at 5pm. The rest of us headed straight to our seats and met up at the interval. Two had promming tickets, while sadly, one tried but failed to secure one, so n=10.
The two pieces in the programme were a perfect pairing, with a striking contrast between heaven and hell. And just when we thought the evening couldn’t get any better, conductor Dudamel had a surprise gift for the audience: the composer himself, Thomas Adès, appeared on stage! We applauded, applauded and applauded some more. But alas, all good things must come to an end…. and the Late Prom was calling….
After the concert, we regrouped to share our immediate thoughts before heading off in various directions. Eight of us continued the evening with F&B at The Duchess of Kensington, where the food was good and, as it turned out, generously portioned. In fact, the fish and chips portion was so enormous that one walker, who is renowned for scavenging other people’s leftovers, became a chips donor for the first time in recorded history. A truly historic moment.
Part 2
The lively discussion continued in the pub, accompanied by strongly held opinions about the evening’s musical offerings. So, without further ado, here are our very brilliant critiques
‘What a surprise! Gotta be honest: sat down to the Thomas Ades Inferno in the second half with a grim sense of determination: let’s get through this, all 45 minutes of it…. But what an amazing piece! Exciting, varied, tuneful, imaginative. A great showcase for an amazing orchestra, complete with an eight person percussion section. From our third row choir seat we had an excellent view of the conductor Dudamel, who really lived every mood of the music, jumping about like a demented puppet in the exciting bits. The best “modern” piece of music I have ever heard!!’
‘The Beethoven was also great. I love the Pastoral symphony: the birds by the brook, the clod-hopping peasant dance and then the wonderful thunderstorm.’
‘The Beethoven was beautifully performed and the Ades a revelation. The latter a lively, even beguiling vision of hell. By turns ominous, teasing and carnivalesque. The devil caught me a little by surprise at the end with his relatively cool and calm appearance after the wild abandon of the previous passages, but perhaps he always creeps up on us. Another super evening.’
‘I liked the contrast between the two pieces. The heavenly portrayal of the natural world in the Beethoven, very delicately conducted by Dudamel, with the cuckoos, green shoots and refreshing rain, and then the vision of hell in the Thomas Ades' piece, Dante's Inferno.’
‘Sometimes the drums and the brass reminded me of the threatening soundtrack from Jaws, and I have never seen such a variety of percussion instruments creating the sounds of the punishments of the inferno, ranging from rattlesnakes, sizzling to the occasional whip. There were also beautiful lyrical solos from the harp, piano and cello, suggesting that even the souls of the damned have their beauty.’
‘I had a wonderful side view of the harpist playing, good to see a male harpist too. The tuba was brilliant too! I liked the way Dedamel gave credit to so many of the orchestra.’
‘I loved the calm deftness of the 3rd flute when they changed to piccolo and swiftly back to flute, seamlessly switching between the two for a solo while cleaning one instrument in between.’
‘Dudamel was certainly worth going to see. He was a bit low key in the Beethoven, but really came alive during the Ades piece. At one point he was actually jumping up and down (while also still beating perfect time with his baton) to Illustrate the “deviants” being made to walk on burning sand.’
‘Always so life affirming to see how working together can achieve so much. From the building of the breathtaking Royal Albert Hall , the starting of summer music festival of first class music being accessible to more, and to the talent of those musicians who no doubt gave up many summers to achieve playing instruments to that standard.’
‘A wonderful evening.’
‘It’s such a wonderful experience for me to join and enjoy the concert.’
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