The Last Night of the Proms, review

Britain’s economy is shot to pieces, our green and pleasant land will soon be covered in white satanic windmills, and we slip relentlessly down the world league in all the measures that matter. But for three hours we could forget all that, because when it comes to having a jolly good knees-up, we are world class. The world agrees, because there it was in the hall, waving its various multi-coloured flags alongside the Union Jacks.

It was all as silly as expected. The chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jirí Belohlávek, was “shot’’ by Goldie while playing a vacuum cleaner (in Malcolm Arnold’s Grand, Grand overture). That great mezzo Sarah Connolly sang Rule Britannia dressed as an Admiral

Balloons soared aloft, to roars of approval. Poppers exploded.

But this knees-up isn’t as innocent as it seems. Everything has to be carefully weighed up: real music versus fun, regions versus the centre, traditional versus old. Things kicked off with a post-modern fanfare by Oliver Knussen. Then came a pre-modern arrangement of Purcell: that is, a vast romantic one done before “historically informed performance’’ got going .

The fascinating thing about the Last Night is that there are always some moments of real depth. Here they came from Sarah Connolly, who gave lovely, rapt performances of Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrendes Gesellen and the famous lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas .

Why are they there? Because otherwise the only moments of strong feeling would be the patriotic hymns at the end. And all Prom directors realise in their bones that this would be a bad thing. The American conductor David Robertson – a humanly sensitive man as well as fine conductor – knows that too, which is why he prefaced Land of Hope and Glory with some heartfelt remarks about the orchestra as a symbol of how differing nations can get along. This drew the sting of all those nationalist sentiments, which is why everyone could sing along with a good conscience. As a party the Last Night is pretty good. As a piece of cultural/political manipulation, it’s a masterpiece.

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