My husband and daughter went to both of these. Prom 60 was the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra playing Also sprach Zarathustra and Sibelius 2. The verdict was that the Strauss was rather rambling but the Sibelius went down well. Prom 66 was the Vienna Philharmonic with Schubert’s 5th and Bruckner’s 4th symphonies, and the VPO under Barenboim seemed to be on fine form.
Now a question for those who follow the Proms closely: why are they a week earlier than usual this year? In 2001 they ended on September 15th, but this year they end on September 8th. Is it because there are more competing concerts on in September than in July? The week just before the Proms start can be a terribly fallow period for concerts in London.
I’m sure I heard the BBC announcer say that one of the members of the VPO claims to be descended from Bruckner. Wow! And there I was thinking that Bruckner’s love-life was the empty set! They really shouldn’t leave us in suspense like that.
The dates are moving a week later next year. I suspect part of the reason they didn’t change this year may have been down to availability of performers they wanted to include – this year the first week included the Academy of Sta Cecilia, Rome, and the joint LPO/ONF bash for Kurt Masur.