SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW
 

Prom 11 -  The Doctor Who Prom: Yamit Mamo and Mark Chambers (vocalists), London Philharmonic Choir, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ben Foster and Grant Llewellyn (conductors) Royal Albert Hall, London 25.7.2010 (JPr)

 

I knew this was a different sort of Prom from the moment I sat down and heard a very young voice asking ‘Is that an alien behind the Tardis?’ The soothing reply from the accompanying adult was ‘No dear, that is just a bust of Sir Henry Wood, he was the man who thought up these concerts.’ The idea of the Doctor Who Proms is, of course, to celebrate the TV programme and also, I assume, to try and introduce a much younger audience than usual to the delights of classical music.

For some readers, the word ‘Tardis’ may not mean anything, but for adults of a certain age (i.e. those of us who have never completely grown up) it is the spacecraft that ‘The Doctor’ travels in through time and space … and has done, on and off, since 1963. Saturdays when I grew up in the 1960s meant a first team or reserve football game at Spurs and then a race home for Doctor Who on the TV at around 6pm. Those were the days before video and DVD recorders. Doctor Who can now never be a must-see for Saturday nights these days, but at least it can always be programmed into my Sky Plus box and enjoyed later. I am allowed one constant from childhood, now that I can’t afford football matches anymore.

 

Over 47 years The Doctor (who is never called ‘Doctor Who’) has saved Earth - of which he seems inordinately fond – from the onslaught of countless alien menaces … and he even survived Michael Grade’s axe in 1989. He has ‘regenerated’ ten times and the eleventh Doctor is played by the youthful Matt Smith. He is aided, and often saved from impossible situations, by his titian-haired young companion, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) whom she apparently married at the end of the last series.

 

The first Doctor Who Prom was in 2008 and it was clear that the budget was not nearly as big this time but still much fun was had by all. The Tardis was indeed parked in front of Sir Henry Wood and the organ and a few (too few for my liking) creatures from the show – mostly the rhino-like Judoon, the reptile-like Silurians, Cybermen and Vampire Girls – walked around the auditorium and stalked the Prommers. Their antics accompanied the valiant BBC National Orchestra of Wales - often referred to as the Doctor Who ‘house band’ because the show is filmed in Cardiff – who together with the London Philharmonic Choir and soloists hummed, haahed or lahlahed their way with expert synchronisation (under the baton of Ben Foster the orchestrator of the music) to dramatic or emotional scenes from recent series, projected on screens around the Royal Albert Hall. There were Daleks but only two of them; the new supreme white one and another friendlier one offering us tea and biscuits! Admittedly the programme was Dalek-shaped too and the voice of a Dalek had reminded us to turn off our mobile phone or else – yes you’ve guess it – we would be exterminated! A restricted budget only allowed for one static ‘Weeping Angel’ and could not run to an Ood for the atmospheric ‘Song of Freedom’ ... I appreciate this will mean more to fellow devotees of the programme.

 

When the screens went blank and the young audience were left to appreciate the purely classical items played it was clear that the interests of the youngsters present waned. The youngsters were supposed to just sit and listen – something that few children have any experience of these days it seems. Grant Llewellyn conduct the non-Doctor Who bits and gave spirited and rousing accounts of John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, William Walton’s Overture Portsmouth Point, Holst’s Mars, Carl Orff’s O Fortuna and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. For those with any ear for this music this was an unfortunate choice because it became clear how much Murray Gold’s Doctor Who scores owe to these composers as well as to the Bernsteins … Leonard and Elmer! Or maybe that was the point.

 

Fortunately the ‘concert’ was saved by the appearance in the hall, after a videoed prologue, of Matt Smith’s Doctor who used a bemused child from the audience to save the world from a ‘wibbly-wobbly, explodey-wodey thing’. His take on the character is manically incorrigible and has a world-weariness and wisdom that belies his obvious youth. He deserved the roars he got both on screen and in person. There was a fleeting appearance from Arthur Darvill but most of the hosting was ably handled by Karen Gillan with her girlish enthusiasm and sing-song high pitched voice. I assume another of the BBC cutbacks resulted in the lack of material for her skirt in the second half of the concert but that probably had its own appeal to a portion of the audience. However as the familiar and stirring theme music which, in various versions, has introduced Doctor Who for the last 47 years faded away and as the standing ovation went on and on, it was clear that much fun had been had by all. I look forward to The Doctor’s next materialisation at the Proms, as will I suspect, most people there for the two shows this weekend.

 

Jim Pritchard

 

Footnote: Several TV screens around the Royal Albert Hall were used in these concerts and surely similar technology could be used to project the English translation of opera performances. If there is a reason why this would not be possible, could someone kindly contact ‘Seen and Heard International’ please and let us know what it is?

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