Chris Christodoulou has been honing his focus on conductors in past Proms seasons to wonderful effect, but this year has produced a galaxy of master portraits that outdoes even the immortal cartoons of Gerard Hoffnung in entertainment value. We’ve featured many of them throughout our reviews of two months of Proms. Here Chris makes his selection of favourites. Click on a picture to enter the slideshow. All pictures © Chris Christodoulou.
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The Art of Conducting 2010
Maestros in full flight are unwittingly entertaining, as Chris Christodoulou's photos show
Prom 32: Matthias Bamert with the European Union Youth Orchestra
All photographs © Chris Christodoulou
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more classical music
Performances full of character and life – but some balance issues
New choral music, French piano miniatures and a phalanx of bassoons
A luxurious mezzo-led journey across Mahler's soundscape
Stupendous Salome flames to the back of the hall
Kurtág and Schubert converse across the centuries, Hollywood’s Golden Age dazzles
Lacklustre Copland and messy, misconceived Gershwin outweigh enjoyable Bernstein
Conductor Jonathon Heyward presided with style and élan over an uplifting programme
Arch wit and folksy strangeness from opposite ends of Europe
Some mezzo nuances lost, though none from vivid tenor or players
Strings with two guest artists, and a tribute to Alfred Brendel
A virtuoso clarinettist shines between two murder-ballets
Spanish cellist's Elgar goes deep, while Walton's Second Symphony glows and throbs