BBC Prom 2025: Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth

Royal Albert Hall, London. Monday 01-September-2025.

Our flight back to Italy was early afternoon on the 2nd September. We were coming down from Penrith by train and decided to avoid any risk of delays and missed flights by travelling the day before. That gave us a free evening in London so Mary booked us tickets for the Proms.

We decided to treat ourselves to the Paddington Hilton so we would have an easy trip to Heathrow on the Paddington Express the next morning.

This hotel was formerly the Great Western Royal Hotel for GWR as evidenced by the tiles in front of the entrance.

The route from the hotel to the Royal Albert Hall took us on a lovely stroll through Hyde Park.

We encountered a Rolls Royce ice cream van but didn't stop for an ice cream as it was closed (boo!)

At the Royal Albert Hall this version of Shostakovich’s “The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” was a semi staged production. So not a full blown opera version but the singers did move about the stage with various props arrayed and acted out the story rather than simply stand there and sing. A piece we knew nothing about so it was bound to be a surprise.

We had good seats in one of the Loggia boxes in line with the front of the stage and the promenaders at the front of the arena. We booked ourselves some in-house catering: the vegan tapas selection washed down with a couple of glass of white wine. The plot is right out of EastEnders with infidelity, rape, a couple of murders and a double murder / suicide to finish off with!

The Guardian gave it four stars and wrote: "With Nicky Spence and Amanda Majeski the striking leads, the nastiness in Shostakovich’s ‘tragic satire’ was disturbing and powerful in an impressive Proms performance. [...] nothing was more striking or disturbing than the interaction between Spence’s Sergey and Amanda Majeski’s Katerina: the former heroically clarion even while dramatically faithless, the latter a terrifyingly lyrical portrait of a woman “so bored I could hang myself” - or, as it turns out, commit murder.." [Full review].

On the way back to the hotel we passed a cocktail bar, Amaro, and popped in for a tasty but expensive nightcap.

Well that was a fun evening!

The next morning we wandered out for a breakfast shakshouka at Hayat, supporting locals rather than pay for an overpriced Hilton breakfast. On the way back to pick up our luggage we passed this lovely statue: "Wild Table of Love".

We also saw this encouraging sign, "Drinking Rum before 10am makes you a Pirate not an Alcoholic"!

After that it was back to the hotel to collect our luggage and head off to Heathrow for the flight back to Italy. 

Our 26th wedding Anniversary

Royal Albert Hall, London. Wednesday, 30-October-2019.

We celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary by ticking off one of Mary's bucket list items: a hospitality box at the Royal Albert Hall.

Last year for the big one, our 25th, we made it just the two of us in a hotel in the Lake District with a very nice meal. This year might have been similar but Ronnie Scotts decided to celebrate their 60th anniversary with a special concert in the RAH. As a member of Ronnie Scott's Mary gets advance notification through the mailing list. She saw this event and was able to grab the last available hospitality box.

The box seats eight. The first four were easy, my best man Pete and his wife Amanda, Mary's matron of honour Geraldine and her husband Alisdair. That's left two seats and too many siblings. So we invited Mary's old boss, and now friends, Grant and his wife Helen to complete the set.

The floor of the house was set up cabaret style, like a giant version of Ronnie's club.

Geraldine and Mary.

AJ Rahney at London Jazz News writes:

"On stage the Ronnie Scott’s All Stars house band quintet led by Pete Long, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, accompanied a terrifying cast of talents, each of whom brought their own personal connection to the club." Full review...

Artistes included: Judi Jackson, Ian Shaw, Natalie Williams, Curtis Stigers, Liane Carroll, China Moses, Nigel Kennedy, Ezra Collective, Kinetika Bloco, Courtney Pine, Kurt Elling, Imelda May, Roy Ayres, Madeline Bell and Van Morrison. One of the more surprising performances was Nigel Kennedy playing Jimi Hendrix but apparently he has been doing this for 20 years [Google "Nigel Kennedy Jimi Hendrix"].

Ronnie Scott played the tenor sax and so were many of the early artists he booked. As a tribute the final part of the evening was 60 sax players on stage and parading around the hall.

We had our own dedicated waiter and ample food and drink included in the price.

A great way to celebrate our wedding anniversary in style with the best of friends.

Dellee Dube at the Royal Albert Hall

London. Friday 30-November-2018.

Part of the late night jazz series in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall.

This was a bit of a gamble as we knew nothing of this lady but we thought we’d give it a go. The plan was simple: nice meal in the Verdi restaurant followed by cabaret style relaxing in the Elgar room.

The meal was excellent and then we repaired to the Elgar room to take our seats. Deelee and band were fine musicians but rather too easy listening, dinner jazz style for our taste.

Due to the hecticness of the previous week we found ourselves “resting our eyes”. So when Deelee took a break between sets we decided we were too tired and tiptoed out leaving our seats for our neighbours to move forward to a better vantage point. Sorry, Deelee!

Prom 47 2016: Ulster Orchestra and Rafael Payare

Royal Albert Hall. Sunday 21-August-2016

Another Prom, another box for four plus one, a different set of friends and three more pieces of music. This time we didn't try to bring in a bottle of champagne and this time they didn't do a bag search so we could have got away with it! But we did bring in some nibbles to munch in the box and bought bottles of wine from the bar.

Cristina, Kate, Sheila, Mary

Review extracts from Dominic Lowe on BachTrack:

• The concert opened with the world première of Belfast-based Piers Hellawell’s Wild Flow, a five-movement work around 20 minutes long; the key piece is its central slow movement, cocooned and contrasted by the surrounding four. Hellawell’s writing creates a soundscape of stalagmites: sharp and initially independent of each other with no natural growth and development. Easily the most striking thing about the piece is its percussion, exceptionally well-played here [...] This is a piece worth hearing again.
• Narek Hakhnazaryan, a BBC New Generation Artist, took to the stage for Haydn’s Cello Concerto no. 1 in C major, that masterpiece composed for Joseph Franz Weigl in the early 1760s which was lost for centuries. [...] The cellist’s approach was individual enough to risk division; he showed technical ability that was a delight to watch, but his approach was rather less classical than the orchestra’s which brought moments of conflict, particularly in the Allegro. He encored with Sollima’s Lamentatio, a signature piece of his which calls a raw cry from the cellist as well as rapid, extremely deft bowing.
• Payare opted for a strong final work, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 5 in E minor. The conductor has apparently played the horn solo himself during his time as a player. His intimate knowledge of the work was visible, not just from his conducting of the symphony from memory, but from the multi-faceted, textured account he drew from the orchestra. [...] Payare throughout was an energetic influence on the pit, and the Ulster Orchestra responded with technically brilliant playing. Belfast is lucky to still have this talented group.
• Full review ...

We all agreed the Hellawell was not entirely to our taste but we loved the Hayden and the Tchaikovsky. As it was still early, being an afternoon concert, we went a quick drink with Kate afterwards at the nearby Queens Arms and then home for supper.

Prom 35 2016: Bartok, Malcolm Hayes and Dvorak

Royal Albert Hall, London. Thursday, 11-August-2016.

The first of only two trips to the Proms this year. Both in tier 2 boxes which seat 4 plus 1. Our friends Christine and Paul joined us for this their first ever Proms concert.

Since one cannot take photos of the performance - indeed, one should be listening to the music - I took a shot of the auditorium; a wonderful Grade I listed edifice.

I enjoyed the Bartok, the Violin Concerto by Malcolm Hayes was very atmospheric in a film soundtrack kind of way, and you can't go wrong with Dvorak.

Extracts from review by David Truelove on BachTrack:

• This Prom opened with Bartók’s Dance Suite which, despite the indifference shown at its 1923 première, is one of his most colourful works, commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of uniting the cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda into Budapest. Its folk-derived material (Arab, Hungarian and Romanian influences) gives rhythmic and melodic impetus to its six movements that also have harmonic echoes of Debussy.
• Inspiration of a different kind fuelled the Violin Concerto by Malcolm Hayes that followed. [...]. While casting aside the conventional combative relationship between orchestra and soloist, it presents an intriguing single-movement soundscape (evoking the endless skies of Harris) with traces of more traditional concerto models – Beethoven, Sibelius and Vaughan Williams readily spring to mind. [...]  Playing from an iPad, soloist Tai Murray (a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist) gave a persuasive rendition, bringing to its near-ceaseless flow a real sense of commitment, poise and flawless intonation
• Dvořák’s Symphony no. 7 in D minor [...] This account, on Thursday, was admirable in many ways – not least in the momentum achieved in the opening Allegro maestoso and the drama initiating the reprise. Variety of pace and dynamic contributed much to a nuanced slow movement; its ebb and flow were nicely caught. Dvořák’s melodic charm found outlet in a well-judged Scherzo and in the Finale, Søndergård sustained a tight control over its stormy narrative through to its defiantly major key close. 
• Full review...

We normally take in something to eat and drink in the interval but this time they did a bag search and made us check our champagne into the cloakroom. So we decided to have a post-concert drink thanks to the cool bag and our plastic picnic glasses.

All in all wonderful evening.

Prom 49, 2015: Mahler - Symphony No. 6

Saturday 22-August-2015

Mary decided to make this a "corporate event" so we treated a number of her colleagues to an evening of culture. We had a loggia box which seats eight and smuggled in a small picnic with us.

I was anticipated something quite gloomy given Mahler's reputation but I found it much more enjoyable than I had expected.

The reviews were variable and two both singled out the brass for disapprobation. Skipping over the first half of the concert (Brett Dean’s Dramatis Personae) this is what two reviewers had to say about the main piece:

Seen and Heard international: Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Bring Magnificent Mahler to the Proms.
"And so to Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Here the sheer orchestral perfection of the Boston Symphony shone through, with perhaps an odd exception: the solo horn player, James Sommerville, too often sounded just barely in control of his instrument and at other times tended towards approximation.
[...]
If the opening march was blunted somewhat, one listened with awe at so many aspects of this first movement: the stunning, clarion first trumpet of Thomas Rolfs, the sweet solo violin of concert-master Malcolm Lowe, the superb trombone trudge of the coda against heavy, low strings, and throughout the glowing oboe solos of John Ferrillo. Nelsons’ Mahler is heavily gestural and, yes, atmospheric. He also has a superb rapport with this orchestra; subtle tempo manipulations in the second movement were minutely managed, with Luftpausen both natural and precise."
Full review...

BachTrack: Prom 49: Boston Symphony Orchestra misses the magic in Mahler.
"So to Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. Standing at nearly four times the length of Dramatis Personae, and requiring one of the repertory’s largest orchestras, here it found a very unlikely friend: the Albert Hall’s acoustic. The BSO is a truly magnificent orchestra, and the sheer sonic richness produced by innumerable string desks, nine horns, and a brass section on very high risers meant this huge empty space felt fuller than I have ever heard it. Even better, everything was miraculously clear; Mahler’s orchestrational prowess deserves some credit, but warrants the highest praise for finding such a perfect sound even in this troublesome acoustic.
[...]
Unfortunately, the whole was more than the sum of its parts. Perhaps the biggest issue was the balance of the orchestra; the brass was far too loud most of the time, entirely drowning out the strings and woodwind, with the principal trumpet’s extreme vibrato and excessive volume simply too much from start to finish."
Full review...

The Prom finished relatively early as there was a second, late night prom following. So rather than go straight home several of us went for a beer at the nearby Queens Arms hidden down a back street mews with a decent range of beers.

Prom 09, 2015 - Beethoven Piano Concertos

RAH Thursday 23-July-2015

This was an unplanned visit to the proms as Mary had booked tickets for a later Prom not realising we were in Italy. The RAH will not do refunds but they will do exchanges. So we swapped for this on the grounds that you can't beat The Big "B" and we get of bit of Stravinsky thrown in as well. Full details on the BBC website. We went with our friends Bron and Maggie and had a meal beforehand in the Elgar Room.

Despite the fact that for a period in my life I had been to more Proms than rock concerts I never had a classical music upbringing so my review consists of "Actually I enjoyed the Stravinsky more than the Beethoven"

The Telegraph was more eloquent: "Utterly absorbing."

"For the past four years, the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes has been exploring all five of the piano concertos and the Choral Fantasy in a "Beethoven Journey" that is now culminating in a trio of headline concerts at the BBC Proms. His partner on his global travels with these programmes has been the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, which again joined him in this pairing of the First and Fourth Concertos separated by Stravinsky’s palate-cleansing “Apollon musagète”. Together they gave utterly absorbing performances that were a testament to the strength and subtlety of Andsnes’s interpretative stance in this music and an unequivocal vindication of his decision to direct all the concertos from the keyboard." Full review...

I noticed was how many of my fellow audience members are able to sit stock still for the duration of each piece as if frozen by the Gorgon's stare. I am a real fidget pants, itch here, scratch there, shuffle in my seat, legs doing St Vitus dance. How I envy them their physical immobility.

Another friend Bill has been making use of his retirement to become a hard core Promenader attending almost every single prom. So much so that he is now one of the official music charity bucket rattlers standing at the exit doors collecting donations. We were able to spot him at the interval for a chat and meet at the door afterward for more catch-up.

A fine cultural evening.

Al Stewart at the Royal Albert Hall

Saturday 16-May-2015.

Another coup for SingKick. As soon as I got the alert I went online to buy tickets but the concert was not even up on the RAH website. So I rang the box office and they confirmed the concert was on and I could buy tickets. Being so quick off the mark, I was able to get front row seats right in the middle of the row. Result!

Don't miss Night #2 of the Royal Albert Hall in London, when Al will perform the albums Past Present Future and Year of...
Posted by Al Stewart OFFICIAL on Wednesday, 20 May 2015

It was not the usual "greatest hits" approach of many established artists. Instead it was two albums in their entirety. First he played "Past Present and Future" track for track. Then an interval. Then "Year of the Cat". After that the encore was "Carol" and the wonderful "Time Passages" as the final song.



Hearing the songs live is very different to the albums I was used to but in a good way as he was supported by a full band. The band were great but two musicians stood out for me. Tim Renwick in particular made playing superb guitar look so effortless. You could hear echoes of the man who played with Pink Floyd. Dave Nachmanoff is a long time collaborator with Al Stewart and key to the concert we enjoyed so much.

At the end we could see a photographer up behind the choir and blow me if they didn't publish the picture on Facebook - that's me in the brown jacket and Mary Galashan in the floral dress.

Photo by Anne Burghard
Posted by Al Stewart OFFICIAL on Sunday, 17 May 2015

A brilliant concert. Superb band. Two classic albums. Time Passages for an encore. AND the best seats in the house. It doesn't get much better than that. My eyes may have leaked. Thanks to Al Stewart and all the musicians for a wonderful evening.

Rodriguez at The Royal Albert Hall

Thursday 07-May-2015

Alerted to this gig by the SongKick app, I bagged four tickets knowing that we would be able to find people to take the other two especially as Mary is working for a South African company - Sixto Rodriguez is a cultural phenomenon in that country.

We had drinks and bar snacks (you couldn't call it a meal) in the Berry Bros. & Rudd No 3 Bar. An atmospheric subterranean feel, comfy sofas and subdued lighting with a decent wine list including the handy 375 ml carafe option but don't order the cocktails if you are in a hurry.

We got to our seats in time to see the whole of the support act. Something I like to do partly because I've paid for it and and partly because I like to be surprised by some unknown performer that I might really like. In this case it was Charlie Cunningham a solo guitarist. He was good, playing songs off his forthcoming EP one of which had a real tang of classical Spanish guitar. He was a little in awe both of playing in the Royal Albert Hall and of supporting Rodriguez.

Then the main man came on to tumultuous applause, helped on by a couple of assistants. He was well wrapped up and over the course of the first few tracks stripped off three layers until he was down to a black singlet which caused no little excitement amongst some members of the audience. You could tell much of his life was spent doing manual work, he had the biceps to prove it.

He mostly sang songs from Cold Fact including "I Wonder" and "Sugar Man", What surprised me was him doing several cover versions including "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane. Hopefully someone will put up the full set list on www.setlist.fm. As often I didn't take a camera but fortunately the RAH posted some good quality photos on their blog.

The crowd were in adoring mood with many shouts of "We love you!" Upon hearing calls proclaiming him a 'legend', Sixto modestly responded: "I want everyone here tonight to know that I want to be treated like an ordinary legend".

Another great evening and made all the more enjoyable by knowing his back story courtesy of the award winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man.

BluesFest 2014 at The Royal Albert Hall

Thursday 30-October-2014.

For our 21st wedding anniversary the nice people at BluesFest London had laid on a programme of concerts for us. We orginally booked for the main evening performance but when we learnt that Marcus Bonfanti was playing we added on a stroller ticket and took the afternoon off work.

First on in the Elgar Room were Dr Feelgood who belted out some good ol' rock'n'roll. Robert Kane makes an excellent front man giving it plenty of energy.

Then Marcus Bonfanti who we have seen now for the eighth time. Seeing someone that many times you get to see different styles of performance from the wonderful acoustic set at Green Note Cafe to the raucous rock star version last year at Blues Fest 2013. This was slightly to the gentler side of centre.

For the third session we saw a little of the Matt White Trio in the appallingly unsympathetic venue of the Verdi room. We listened to a couple couple of songs then bailed in favour of The Excitements in the West Arena Foyer. A good call as they belted out some Rhythm 'n' Blues and Soul. The lead singer's style was a mix of younger versions of Aretha Franklin with a bit of Tina Turner thrown in.

Supper was in the Coda Restaurant. The waiter asked if we had been there before - "Yes, exactly one year ago for our last wedding anniversary".

The main concert was Robert Cray - excuse the poor quality iPhone photo - fortunately the music was high quality :-)

After the interval was Californian singer-songwriter Beth Hart\ about whom we knew nothing. We had come to see Robert Cray unlike the guy in the seat next to us who had come to sees Beth. She was good but not good enough to hold us to the very end - we were both feeling tired so we sneaked out before the end and grabbed a black cab home.

BBC Prom 45, Laura Mvula

Royal Albert Hall, London. Tuesday 19-August-2014.

Our first late night Prom and a fine concert it was too. Having heard absolutely nothing of Laura's music I had no choice but to go with an open mind. It was brilliant.

Picture from Laura Mvula on FB.

I was particularly taken by Sing to the Moon.

BachTrack gives it 5 stars:
"This was a concert truly like no other. Mvula has a very honest approach to performing - it all comes from the heart, and, for all her glamorous exterior, she remains thoroughly grounded as she sings. Someone once described her songs as a 'sonic breath'; they were absolutely right. The orchestrations worked in a most unique way, and I hope that Laura Mvula pens many more orchestratable songs." Full review...

Really wonderful, a very special concert.

BBC Prom 38, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Albert Hall, London. Wednesday, 06-August-2104

Picnic in a box - doing classical music in style.

A team outing to the RAH; we booked a box and smuggled a picnic in. One ticket had already gone when Mary booked the remaining seven tickets in the box. We had two spare tickets which nearly went to waste but a colleague and partner stepped in at the very last minute.

We set up the impromptu buffet and were just sipping our first glass of wine when the bloke in seat number one arrived. I felt a bit sorry for the him; the usherette showed him into the box with a cheery "these are your new friends" - he looked a bit startled, declined our offer of a drink and scuttled off to his seat.

Mixed reviews from the broadsheets but they all liked Sibelius 2. We also all agreed Sib 2 was much the better half of the programme. Another great night out.

The Guardian gave it 3 stars:
"John Storgårds delivers a thrilling finale to compatriot Sibelius's Second Symphony, rounding out his Proms appearance with solid performances of Peter Maxwell Davies and Frank Bridge [...] John Storgårds's Prom with the BBC Philharmonic flanked two lesser-known British works (Peter Maxwell Davies's Fifth Symphony, Frank Bridge's Oration) with two of Sibelius's most popular pieces, Finlandia and the Second Symphony. Sibelius is often regarded as Storgårds's calling card, though his interpretations of his Finnish compatriot's music divide opinion and there are times when you can see why. Full review…

The Telegraph was more enthused and gave it 5 stars:
'truly overwhelming' This was an amazingly energised performance of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's chamber pieces, says Ivan Hewett  [...] The other was Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony. It’s a piece where every beguiling or puzzling move is part of a long journey, which leads with iron logic to the final triumphal blaze of D major at the end. It’s easy to lose sight of that final destination, but conductor John Storgards never did. That vision, combined with the impassioned playing of the BBC Philharmonic, made for something truly overwhelming. Full review…

Seasick Steve at Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall, London. Friday 23-May-2014.

Love this man's music and attitude. We first saw Seasick Steve back in 2009 at Hyde Park which caused us to go to Cropredy in 2011 to see him again. Now the opportunity to see him in the comfort of the RAH was too good to miss.

Supper was in the Cloudy Bay Bar where all the wines were from, you guessed it, Cloudy Bay.

A fine concert in aid of the Dogs Trust from the ole dog hisself. What came across was his humility and how chuffed he was to be in the iconic Royal Albert Hall.

Excellent gig, excellent atmosphere, bus home - gotta love a decent, big city transport infrastructure.

Van Morrison at the Royal Albert Hall

Wednesday 30-October-2013.

Part two of our 20th wedding anniversary celebrations at the BluesFest.

We have seen Van the Man nearly as often as Marcus Bonfanti. The first time was on my birthday nearly a decade ago when we both agreed it was the best concert we had ever been to. We have seen him another thrice and this makes number five. He did not disappoint on this occasion either.

Mick Brown of The Telegraph agrees in a 5 star review:

"Legendary grump, Van Morrison, was in unusually jovial spirits as he lit up the Albert Hall with a stunning performance. [...]

By now it was apparent that something remarkable was happening. Van Morrison was visibly enjoying himself. [...]

The end piece of this performance was All In The Game, with Morrison’s scat vocals fluttering around the melody like a butterfly, seguing into You Know What They’re Writing About - "the poetry section" as he gruffly announced - its stream of consciousness phrases "meet me down by the water... I’ve got no safety net... going to the burning ground’, building to a thrilling climax.

Artistry at work. And - astonishingly - with a smile."

A great wedding anniversary celebration with the Orient Express to look forward to.

Marcus Bonfanti at the Royal Albert Hall

Wednesday 30-October-2013.

Part one of our 20th wedding anniversary celebrations at the BluesFest.

We had already booked our tickets for Van Morrison in the evening when we discovered that Marcus Bonfanti was playing during the afternoon. So we decided to make it a double header with supper in between. We bought a daytime stroller ticket and headed up at lunchtime for an afternoon of wandering about from stage to stage.

We started with Marcus. To quote the man himself "we're gonna do a 10pm style show for you at 2pm!" It was certainly his loudest gig yet and he did the full-on rock guitar god for a whole hour. My ears were ringing as we wandered off to catch the tail end of Natalie Williams' set then stayed on for Liane Carroll.

Afterwards we hung around in the new Berry Brothers and Rudd wine bar sipping champagne until it was time for our pre-show meal in the Coda Restaurant.

Cirque du Soleil - Kooza

Royal Albert Hall, London. Saturday 19-January-13

Our friend Ros was not able to use her tickets so we bought them off her and had an early birthday outing for Mary. Most of the reviews out there summed up our experience pretty much - spectacular acts, especially the Wheel of Death, great live band, too much clowns.

What was more interesting for me was which acts we found hard to watch. The trio of bendy Asian women appeared to have spines made of rubber and watching them made me feel distinctly queasy. Conversely Mary couldn't bear to watch anything with the risk of a fall - the high-wire act, the trapeze artiste and the Wheel of Death.

I thought the teeterboard act was impressive, especially doing multiple back-flips on a mono stilt, but the wheel of death was universally singled out, quite rightly, as the massively impressive act of the show. To quote The Telegraph review "You watch with your heart in your mouth because there isn’t a safety wire in sight and the act sets the whole house on a roar of delicious excitement and dread. At moments like this it is easy to forgive Cirque du Soleil its cheesier excesses."