Hairs on the back of the neck

I headed to London again today for my final Prom of the season, although there is still another week to go before the big Last Night of the Proms.

Tonight’s Prom was a Film Music Prom with music British War movies in the first half, and then in the second half it was Sci-fi movies. The first half was good and there were a couple of maestro performances during this time from Lawrence Power on the viola, and then the beautiful Valentina Lisitsa on the piano. But for me, as a big sci-fi fan, the second half was absolutely brilliant! To hear music from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Independence Day, Alien and my favourite of all time Star Wars was just magnificent! I’m sure everyone knows these tunes off by heart but to hear a full orchestra perform Star Wars and the Imperial March was spellbinding and it really was a hairs of the back neck moment.

Whilst the audience thoroughly enjoyed the second half, I’m not so sure that the BBC Concert Orchestra was all that pleased, as there is a lot of work required in those pieces and they are also very fast. I think they were quite relieved when it was over, although the conductor Keith Lockhart did have one final surprise as they performed the theme from Superman for an encore. Another magic moment!

I’ve really enjoyed the three proms I went to see this year, but this one was the best, and I’m glad I was able to enjoy this one with two friends Barbara and Jules.