BBC Prom Concerts

[mbic]

Hi
Has anyone listened to any prom concerts from the RAH? I’d like to know your thoughts on the broadcast quality offered, particularly on FM.

Mike

[Barry]

I had intended to listen to the 'Prog Proms' last night, where reararrangements of various numbers from the likes of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Ian Anderson, Mike Oldfield, Frank Zappa, Soft Machine and ELP were played by the BBC Concert Orchestra. But I thought it was on at a later time, so when I checked in the Radio Times to see when it was on - it had largely finished!

Tonight it is music by Ravel, Rodrigo and Falla, so I'll try to catch that on Radio 3 FM.

[mbic]

Hi Barrie
I’ll try and listen to the first 30 mins on FM. Look forward to our comments.
I listened to Fanfare, but lost interest due to the poor quality.
Mike

[Lawrence001]

I had intended to listen to the 'Prog Proms' last night, where reararrangements of various numbers from the likes of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Ian Anderson, Mike Oldfield, Frank Zappa, Soft Machine and ELP were played by the BBC Concert Orchestra. But I thought it was on at a later time, so when I checked in the Radio Times to see when it was on - it had largely finished!

Tonight it is music by Ravel, Rodrigo and Falla, so I'll try to catch that on Radio 3 FM.

I looked for that on iPlayer a couple of hours ago and I couldn't find it, shouldn't it be available by now?

[Pigmy Pony]

Might be an audio-only thing. Have a look on BBC Sounds.

[Barry]

I'm afraid I've been a bit lax in listening to this year's Proms from the RAH, owing to other distractions. I did however catch most of the performance of music by Ravel, Falla and Respighi.

Listened via my system: external Antiference omnidirectional aerial > Quad FM4 tuner (registering maximum signal strength on the bar-graph indicator) > Mark Levinson ML26 preamplifier > Quad 510 monoblock amplifiers > Quad ESL-57 speakers, I have to say the quality of the BBC transmission was as good as it always is.

However I did notice some background noise: not the hiss of electrical noise, it was more of a quiet 'whirring'. Given the high temperatures we have been suffering, it might have been some form of air conditioning.

Won't be able to hear any more on my system, as I will be away from home and only able to use an FM portable radio.

[Pigmy Pony]

Going anywhere nice Barry?

[Barry]

Only to London, for a week. Want to accompany my partner for her eye treatment.

[Barry]

Listening to tonight's Prom:


Dani Howard - 'Concerto for Brass (Signal)' (BBC co-commission: first performance.),

Tchaikovsky - 'Violin Concerto in D',

and

Scriabin - 'Symphony No. 2 in C minor'.

BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Paavo Järvi. Violin soloist: Leonidas Kavakos.


Reception of the BBC's broadcast transmission was as good as it has always been. This time there was no sign of the gentle background 'whirr', which I speculated might have been the air conditioning in the Albert Hall. As you may well know, the Albert Hall has 'difficult' acoustics, only partially ameliorated by the 'flying saucer' reflecting diffusers suspended from the domed ceiling.

The BBC use an array of microphones attached to the lighting gantry above the orchestra, which attempts to best capture the sound. On my system it sounds very good, but I know that there are others who are critical and dissatisfied with the overall arrangement. Some have questioned the BBC's use of the Optimod audio processor.

How are you finding the reception of the 2026 BBC Proms where you live Michael?

Barry

[mbic]

Hi Barry
I’ve been listening to the proms online which is unusual for me, as I normally listen on FM. The sound on the whole is very good, the bass seems a tad light compared to FM, however there is better overall clarity online.
I’m currently listening to radio using a Tangent III tuner, which for the money is very good, the ergonomics leave a lot to be desired.