Rapture captured: instrumentalists and singers at the 2019 BBC Proms

Rapture captured: instrumentalists and singers at the 2019 BBC Proms | reviews, news & interviews

Rapture captured: instrumentalists and singers at the 2019 BBC Proms

A second selection of Chris Christodoulou's more telling shots from full houses last year

by TheartsdeskFriday, 28 August 2020

Nicola Benedetti with Mark Wigglesworth and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in 2019's Prom 12All images by Chris Christodoulou

As two weeks of livestreamed Proms begin tonight, we just want to be there in the Royal Albert Hall.

The exuberance of our lead picture tells one story of a Prom which had to be witnessed live to be believed: the annual visit of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain last year, with brilliant Auerbach and Prokofiev under Mark Wigglesworth, and much-loved Nicola Benedetti uniting with them in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.

Chris Christodoulou is always in a unique position, usually putting his camera unnoticed through the velvet curtains at the top of various sets of stairs to the Albert Hall stalls. This year he'll be one of the few people in the hall other than the singers, players and conductors, and they'll find it hard to touch the ecstasy spots without the Prommers in front of them, but fingers crossed there will be some more memorable captures of what it means to perform together. Click on the images below for the full picture.

Nemanja Radulović with Kirill Karabits (Prom 4)

Yeol Um Son (Prom 7)

Stuart Skelton (Prom 18)

Alexander Melnikov (Prom 19)

Pekka Kuusisto (Prom 20)

Joyce DiDonato with Antonio Pappano and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA

Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim (Prom 34)

Martha Argerich (Prom 34)

Stephen Hough (Prom 40)

Stephen Hough and Alessandro Fisher (Prom 40

Gerald Finley (Prom 44)

Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Prom 46)

Sarah Connolly (Prom 53)

Jamie Barton with Sakari Oramo (Last Night of the Proms)

This year Chris Christodoulou will be one of the few people in the hall other than the performers

Explore topics

Share this article

The future of Arts Journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Perianes, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Payare, Barbican review - elegance and drama but not enough bite Often dynamic Venezuelan conductor misses the darkness of the 'Symphonie fantastique'

La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - an Italian menu to savour Tasty Baroque discoveries, tastefully delivered

Roman Rabinovich, Wigmore Hall review - full tone in four styles Fascinating Haydn, Debussy and Schumann, odd Beethoven

Wyn, Dwyer, McAteer, RSNO & Choirs, Diakun, Usher Hall, Edinburgh review - ebullient but bitty ‘Carmina Burana’ is fun in parts, but Langer’s ‘Dong’ doesn’t flow

Gerhardt, BBC Philharmonic, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - from grief to peace Anna Clyne, Shostakovich and Richard Strauss tell us about loss, struggle and healing

Bach Brandenburg Concertos, OAE, QEH review - forever young Zest, dash and fun in rejuvenated favourites

First Person: Alec Frank-Gemmill on reasons for another recording of the Mozart horn concertos On ignoring the composer's 'Basta, basta!' above the part for the original soloist

Andrej Power, LSO, Mäkelä, Barbican review - singing, shrieking rites of darkness and light Radical masterpieces by Sibelius and Stravinsky have never sounded more extraordinary

Mailley-Smith, Piccadilly Sinfonietta, St Mary-le-Strand review - music in a resurgent venue Neglected London church now the home of a vibrant concert series

Classical CDs: Mandolins, multiphonics and multiple pianos Classical horn concertos, a Gallic record label celebrated and Seventies pop meets the French baroque

Kolesnikov, Hallé, Elts, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - the dude who dazzles Fun French music forms a foil to naked, virtuoso pianism

Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flight The master of levitation in transcendent performances from Steven Isserlis and friends

Follow @theartsdesk