Antics before an audience: conductors at the 2019 BBC Proms

Chris Christodoulou's gallery capturing the heat of the moment last year

by TheartsdeskWednesday, 26 August 2020

Dalia Stasevska, this year's Last Night conductor, making her Proms debut in 2019All images by Chris Christodoulou

What a difference a year makes. Live Proms will be back from Friday, but the very essence of the world's biggest music festival will be missing: the audience, and especially the Prommers whose rapt attention while standing has taken so many visiting orchestras by surprise.

No doubt the rapport between conductor and players will be electric at times, but the third point of what Britten called the "magic triangle" of composer, performers and audience will be notable by its absence.

Even so, the peerless Chris Christodoulou will be there to capture the essence of performance in action. Celebrating his 40th anniversary this year – he has promised us a personal selection – in 2019 he supplied theartsdesk with his usual collection of performers caught most flamboyantly in the act. We weren't able to run the gallery then, but now we can – and today's roster of conductors will be followed by unusual images of other star performers on Friday. Click on the images below for the full picture.

Karina Kanellakis (Prom 1)

Jakub Hrůša (Prom 2)

Kirill Karabits (Prom 4)

Edward Gardner (Prom 6)

Omer Meir Wellber (Prom 7)

Stephen Bell (Prom 11)

Mark Wigglesworth (Prom 12)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Prom 15)

Thomas Dausgaard (Prom 19)

Dalia Stasevska (Prom 25)

Nathalie Stutzmann (Prom 26)

John Wilson (Prom 30)

Antonio Pappano (Prom 32)

Maxime Pascal (Prom 37)

Elim Chan (Prom 39)

Iván Fischer (Prom 40)

Rafael Payare (Prom 42)

Simon Rattle (Prom 44)

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (Prom 46)

Andris Nelsons (Prom 47)

Richard Egarr (Prom 55)

Andrés Orozco-Estrada (Prom 61)

Myung-Whun Chung (Prom 63)

Andrew Manze (Prom 74)

Sakari Oramo (Last Night of the Proms)

Bernard Haitink leaves the stage after his final London concert

Chris Christodoulou supplied us with his usual collection of performers caught most flamboyantly in the act

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