First Night of the Proms Review: 'Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?'

First Night of the Proms review: 'who thought this was a good idea?'

The first night of the 2025 BBC Proms was a mixed bag, with one glaring misstep among the high points

The BBC’s mistreatment of the Proms

The Proms is becoming a compound of sporting event and talent show – because the BBC is embarrassed by the fact that orchestral music has been composed over the past four centuries by white men.

Plenty of Variety from the First Night of the Proms

The Proms season began with a curious mélange that was neither a bang nor a whimper. Its festive spirit was duly acknowledged with the Birthday Fanfare for Sir Henry Wood by Sir Arthur Bliss – a work honouring the Proms founder on his 75th birthday in 1944. Pleasantly tuneful, if unremarkable, its two-minute pageant for brass and timpani never had a chance to make anything more than a fleeting impression. But there was a neat and unbroken segue …

REVIEW: First Night At the Proms

Rating: 4 out of 5. A wonderful evening of majesty and the good kind of tradition The First Night of the BBC Proms was suitably majestic. The room pulsated with respect and anticipation; as the orchestra prepared to strum and string (and all the other things they do), the reverential silence was palpable.  The first half included a wonderful Violin Concerto in D minor from Jean Sibelius, led by Lisa Batishvili. It was contemplative and utterly c…