My Proms debut fell on a Sunday afternoon in September 1984. After queueing for five hours, I stood in the arena to hear Claudio Abbado conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in a classic programme: Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, Schubert’s Ninth. Recently at my 350th Prom, I lolled in the gallery. It was a Sunday morning this time, and another Beethoven’s Fourth.
What memories! Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday celebrations. Roby Lakatos, the Magyar fiddler with his band. Iván Fischer inviting the Budapest Festival Orchestra to sing as an encore. Wagner’s Ring cycle conducted over four sweltering evenings by Daniel Barenboim. Günter Wand’s Bruckner’s Eighth. Most memorable, perhaps, was Abbado conducting Mahler’s Ninth with the Berliner Philharmoniker, when the hall remained silent for 54 seconds.
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