Lily at the Proms

Niece and goddaughter Lily was playing at the Proms with the Royal College of Music orchestra tonight and we took Mum up to see it.  It was quite a tough challenge ferrying a nearly 92 year old into London and back so we got a car all the way and they waited to bring us back.  She enjoyed driving into London in golden evening sunshine, luckily in light traffic. 

The Albert Hall is always knock-out impressive but never more so than at the Proms.  The orchestra was blended and young;  the Finnish Sibelius Academy and RCM and the programme was Sibelius’s haunting lovely The Wood Nymph, a new piece from a Finnish composer with a glorious soprano part and in the the second half Holst’s rousing The Planets.  Nephews Tom and Seb were there too and other of Lily’s family members and we all met for drinks and dinner together in the bar beforehand.  Tom said he’d never seen a live orchestra or been in the Albert Hall so enjoyed the whole event.  Looking down on them all it was extraordinary,  what a physical piece The Planets is! Huge shoulder action from the violinists and satisfying bashing and crashing from the timps.  Lily is in the batch of violins with their backs to us. 

It was a long drive back and we deposited Mum home at just before midnight and weren’t in our beds till 1am.  But it was worth it.  Will watch it all again on iplayer later and hope there are a some shots of Lily.