The BBC's new TV dawn for the Proms

The BBC's new TV dawn for the Proms | reviews, news & interviews

The BBC's new TV dawn for the Proms

For the 2010 Proms, the BBC has introduced new techniques and new technology

by Adam SweetingFriday, 23 July 2010

Paul Lewis, Beethoven specialist and pioneering subject of the Q-Ball camera

For the couch-bound classical music lover, keeping up with the Proms is pretty straightforward. Step one: open bottle of agreeable claret. Step two: turn on Radio 3 and listen, or watch selected Proms on BBC Two or BBC Four. Or, indeed, catch up on the iPlayer. But needless to say, there's a colossal amount of work going on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

An experimental innovation is the Q-Ball camera, operated backstage using remote controllers, and allowing hitherto unknown access to classical performances.

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Permalink Submitted by Tony (not verified) on Fri, 23/07/2010 - 21:02

The quality of the video pictures reminded me of our holiday pics. What is in the BBC's heads? I thought they were professionals and that was why we all pay for a TV licence. Many amateurs have better quality cameras than this. Amateur Night at The Movies.

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Permalink Submitted by Harry Calthrop (not verified) on Wed, 28/07/2010 - 07:34

Congratulations to everybody involved with the RLPO Prom production, which was without doubt the best televised work of all time. The Direction, Production and camera work were magnificent. I have watched televised Proms for very many years have never seen such an exciting production that gave the viewer greater insight into the music and its performance than anybody in the Hall could have had.

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Permalink Submitted by Harry Calthrop (not verified) on Sat, 21/08/2010 - 14:45

If you needed evidence of the 'new approach' being a success, you only neede to look at Friday's Prom with Mosolov and Part in the first half, which were brought to life in a truly incredible way by the Orchestra and, particularly, the incredible camera work that supported the performance every inch of the way. Once again, congratulations to everybody involved.

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