I had not originally intended to write about the first Prom, Elgar's Kingdom. Not through any republican sympathies, you understand, more, probably, to do with a certain amount of antipathy to this kind of rather grandiose 'Muscular Christian' sort of stuff. Nor am I particularly keen on Elgar, I have to admit.
And I've always been a touch uneasy about the frequent co-option of Elgar's music (or anyone else's for that matter) for the purposes of nationalism or patriotism. This being the year in which either or both could have to be re-defined (and could that be why we're getting so much Elgar outside the Last Night this year, one asks oneself?) that itching sense of unease can't really be scratched away.
But, listening to the performance last night, albeit a little casually, it has to be admitted it was certainly a grand opening to the Proms Season. Or 'grandiose'? Or 'grandilloquent'?
I shall have to listen to my recording again to make a more considered choice between the two. But there was no doubt that orchestra, chorus (especially!) and conductor Andrew Davies were on excellent form. I'll take issue with Eric Jong's comment in the Guardian (as I suspect I quite often will over the next couple of months) that this first Prom was 'subdued'. There didn't seem anything 'subdued' about it at all—either among those on the stage or in the auditorium—listening to the live relay on Radio 3.
Radio 3 repeat: Sunday 20th July 1400.
On iPlayer (video)
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