There are some things in life that you just have to accept. For instance I think it vanishingly unlikely I will ever get to the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. However sometimes life gives you an alternative which ends up being a very reasonable substitute.

So it turned out when we got a call recently saying did we have anything planned for the evening as some friends had spare tickets to a concert. As ever with Wife we had to check the general state of play regarding her health and whether she was likely to be able to stay the distance. Fortunately it was the BSO doing a Last Night of the Proms style concert rather than something more modern and therefore loud which Wife tends to have problems with due to her condition.

We got picked up outside our house and headed for Bournemouth and ended up in an eerily quiet BIC reception. It soon became clear that the reason it was so quiet was not due to some sudden and profound disillusionment with the BSO on the part of the local populace, but entirely due to the fact the concert was in the Pavilion. Embarrassment for our hosts was tempered by the fact the two halls are very close together and within no time at all we were in a considerably more crowded foyer purchasing a Union Jack flag. Once installed in the seats in the circle we settled down to await the start. Just a note here that if you are not able to turn easily for any reason, make sure you are not seated at the side of the circle as the leg room is about adequate, but the seats face straight ahead rather than at the stage. I would suggest the Stalls might be a better bet.

We have seen the BSO several times doing their fireworks and music thing at various places and very enjoyable it was too. However it doesn’t really prepare you for the effect of listening to a full symphony orchestra in a concert hall. There are so many more discernable notes! In fact you can’t take in all the notes you have to follow one theme and then another. Now I have been to classical music concerts in concert halls before, but not for a very long time, and obviously my musical appreciation has increased in the meantime. One is told that live orchestral music is entirely different from listening on even the best hi-fi and I now wholeheartedly agree.

Apart from the delight in discovering what previously I had been unaware of, the sheer nonsense of a Last Night was an experience in itself. Surely only in Britain could you get such a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous holding together to reinforce the experience rather than detract. Of necessity the level of communication between the conductor and the soloist and the audience is higher than at a regular classical concert, particularly during the staples of Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia et al. And all the better for it in my opinion.

It’s a bit of a hackneyed phrase, but a good time was had by all, and surely that’s something we all aspire to. Now we no longer have the MiL to be concerned about, maybe more good times are just around the corner, we’ll just have to keep an eye on what’s on offer.