'Last' Night of the Proms

Tonight was our last visit to the BBC Proms. Where has the time gone, it seems only days since we attended our first concert in July and here we are at the end of August. That first concert was given by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Thierry Fischer and they opened with Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem. This was followed by an amazing performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no.1 by Alexander Toradze - an enthusiastic and exciting performer who had the Proms audience cheering. After the interval we heard a wonderful performance of Shostakovich's Symphony no.7.
We felt we were pretty lucky to have tickets for the Sondheim at 80 concert as the Royal Albert Hall was packed for the evening and the audience was given a treat by all the performers. Wonderful evocative music and lyrics, and cameo performances such as Dame Judi Dench and 'Send in the Clowns'. There was definitely humming on the Tube to Waterloo!
The next two concerts involved an overnight stay, which was a lovely treat. Back to back Mahler concerts persuaded us it was the only thing to do, so our Prom visits also included visits to exhibitions. On Wednesday 4 August we heard BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles perform Mahler's Symphony no.3. Karen Cargill was the mezzo-soprano and we also heard the women's voices of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Choir. It was wonderful. The following evening we heard the World Orchestra for Peace, conducted by Valery Gergiev and with Camilla Tilling, soprano, perform Mahler's Symphonies 4 and 5. Again, a wonderful concert with Maestro Gergiev; virtually all the first violins are leaders of their respective orchestras.
Prom 34 was another Mahler concert. This time we heard Mahler's Symphony no 7 after the interval. The concert opened with Schreker's 'Der ferne Klang - Nachtstuck' and Korngold's Violin Concerto performed by Leonidas Kavakas. The orchestra was the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchestra Berlin conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.
And so to tonight, Prom 52, our last. We went to see the exuberant Vladimir Ashkenazy conduct Sydney Symphony for whom he is the Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor. They performed R. Strauss Der Rosenkavalier -suite; Ravel Piano Concerto with Helene Grimaud as the soloist. This was beautifully played and the Proms audience would hardly let her leave the platform with their enthusiastic applause. After the interval we heard the orchestra play Scriabin Symphony no.3, 'The Divine Poem'. Once again Maestro Ashkenazy showed us how much he enjoyed the performance and how much he appreciated our appreciation and played an encore after returning to the platform several times. A momentous evening to round off our evenings at the proms 2010.