Proms pomp a proper romp

Musical mischief and mayhem are unleashed in the Dunedin Town Hall next week. Nigel Benson previews Last Night of the Proms.

There's something about the Proms.

It's the one time of the year that orchestral music loosens its tie, rolls up its sleeves and has some good old-fashioned fun.

And everyone, from performers to punters, comes to the party.

The Proms, with its patriotic fervour, is especially significant to some people.

Dunedin mother-of-seven Diana Struthers spent her early childhood in London after World War 2 and has taken her family to the Proms every year since the Southern Sinfonia made it a regular annual feature in 1995.

"It was after the war and we were there for the Coronation in 1953.

Many parts of London were still bomb sites, so they covered up all the muck and debris and grey buildings with bunting," she said.

"I guess the Union Jack was a symbol of pride above all that dirt and grime.

"It made an impression on me as a young child.

"Plus, at school, we were always drawing Union Jacks and singing patriotic songs."

She later inherited the Union Jack and New Zealand flag she takes to the Proms every year.

"My husband waves them enthusiastically.

"We often take our children's friends too.

"It's a great concert to take children who may not have been to a concert before.

"We love it.

"I especially love the ending with the sea shanties and the old patriotic numbers like Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Britannia and Jerusalem.

"It's lovely music.

"I love singing it."

An Otago Daily Times photographer spotted the family outside the Town Hall at their first Proms concert in 1995.

"The nine of us were lined up with our flags.

Chloe was in her school uniform holding the baby, who was 1 year old, and she and Rupert, the eldest, who was 15 years old, were looking like they'd rather not have their photograph taken," she recalled.

A tradition at the Proms is for an audience member to win the chance to conduct the orchestra.

"I conducted the cancan in 2006.

"It was the most incredible experience.

"You feel immensely powerful and full of jubilation.

"It was such gorgeous rousing music and everyone was clapping so I turned around to conduct the audience.

"There were girls I knew on the floor doing the cancan and when I looked up into the gods it was full of people clapping.

"The excitement of the musicians and the crowd, so absorbed by it all, was wonderful."

However, she was a little taken aback when the orchestra informed her beforehand that they would be ignoring her baton-waving.

"They said I had to just start them and finish them; the rest they wouldn't be following.

"When I told my brother-in-law, who was a violinist with the English National Opera, he said: 'We never do'.

"I delayed the ending because it sounded so good and afterwards a clarinettist said to me 'I nearly burst my lungs for you'."

The Proms this year features sopranos Deborah Wai Kapohe and Rebecca Ryan and master of ceremonies comedian David McPhail.

The concert will be conducted by Kenneth Young.

"I love the audience involvement and the fun, relaxed way that the audience approaches the concert.

"Performing is a conversation and the Proms is like a dinner party with friends," Wai Kapohe says.

"British culture has many wonderful things to offer.

The traditions, music and - dare I mention food again - even the food is wonderful and neglected due perhaps to the excellent cuisine of the French.

"I love the eccentricities of British culture and it is important to be swept away by passion for British achievements and values from time to time."

The Proms is a concert in two halves with more serious works performed in the first half and traditional Proms numbers, including Fantasia on British Sea Songs and Pomp and Circumstance, in the second half.

"I have to concentrate on making the best music that I can, but I have fun in the choices of music that we make.

"I am performing this year as a 'duo' with soprano Rebecca Ryan.

"The audience will hear beautiful duets like the duet from the Marriage of Figaro between Susanna and the Countess and the Flower Duet from Lakme.

"And we have another one up our sleeves that I'd rather keep as a surprise."

The surprise is rumoured to be The Cat Duet, which involves an altercation between two cats.

Ryan says she's looking forward to returning to Dunedin after a decade in England.

"I have been away from New Zealand for a while.

"It's going to be nice, patriotic you might say, to sing the national anthem in front of, and with, a home crowd."

The soloists will not be the only ones enjoying themselves.

"The choir has one serious work in the first half, then we can relax and have a real hoot in the second half.

We do a lot of jumping up and down - that's the fun part," City of Dunedin Choir member and Star journalist Brenda Harwood says.

"The audience try to stay restrained and then cut loose.

"It's really colourful, lots of banners, face-painting and people dressed up in costumes.

"There's always someone who comes as the Queen and there are beefeaters and other British characters.

"One year a soloist came out dressed as a punk complete with mohawk and chains.

"There's a lot of comedy and the MC leads a lot of this."

Another Proms tradition is the performance of an instrumental solo by the top University of Otago performance student from the preceding year.

This year, bassoon soloist Joseph Donnelly gets the nod.

"I think part of the appeal for the audience is being able to celebrate classical music in a laid-back, non-threatening atmosphere," he said.

"For me, the pageantry and carnival atmosphere of the Proms creates an uplifting mood, conducive to music-making and listening alike."

Be there
• The Southern Sinfonia presents Last Night of the Proms at 7.30pm next Friday in the Dunedin Town Hall.