Comedian, musician and conductor Rainer Hersch's informal and irreverent take on the Proms season, with guests from the world of classical music lifting the piano lid on what really happens in the Albert Hall between July and September each year.
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And so my friends we reach the end of our series. In this Last Night of the Proms in the Pub, I look back over the best bits of the podcast as Harry the Piano and I say cheerio until next year.... Thanks for listening
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5 Sept 2022
Tommy Pearson
Tommy Pearson popped over to chat about his time at Radio 3 as their youngest presenter by some decades and his experience of presenting The Proms. We also spoke about how he got to write for Richard Attenborough and meeting TV legend Des Lynman. Harry the Piano treats us to a Franz Liszt version of Darth Vader's Imperial March.
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1 Sept 2022
Jonathan Pie (Tom Walker)
In which we're very excited to be joined by actor and satirist Tom Walker, better known as his foul mouthed political TV anchor creation, Jonathan Pie. Tom is a Proms virgin or so he claimed, so together with Harry The Piano, we took him along to experience the fun.
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28 Aug 2022
Harry The Piano
I was delighted to invite Harry the Piano into my humble home and talk to him about his genius ability to take audience suggestions of a song to be played in the style of composer and hey-presto Scooby-Doo a la Mozart, or a Beethoven take on the News at Ten theme. We talked about this crossover between classical music and comedy and the few select group of performers who have mastered this art centring on the great Victor Borge.
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25 Aug 2022
Barry Wordsworth
Conductor Barry Wordsworth is a true hero of the Proms - veteran of 30 appearances, including the 1993 Last Night, he has has done it all: jubilee concerts, programmes of Royal celebration, concertos, first performances. Hear his fascinating reminiscences of studying with Adrian Boult; how Malcolm Arnold nearly destroyed a priceless guitar live on the Albert Hall stage and more. Harry the Piano is on cue with his own razzmatazz take on Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite.
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21 Aug 2022
The Prommers
What would The Proms be without the Prommers? I speak to some of the hardcore fans, many of whom have been attending for decades, about the quirks, the trials and the friendships made in queuing for the daily cheap standing tickets. And Harry the Piano rounds things off with his Beethoven-Cole Porter mash up.
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18 Aug 2022
Benjamin Appl
Baritone Benjamin Appl is a former member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme and a much sought after song recitalist. But excitingly for me we both share an Anglo-German heritage and lo-ove of music. I met up with him a couple of days before a rather unusual slot in a Symphony by the Danish Composer Carl Nielson. And we finish as always with Harry the Piano who gives us his Carmina Burana - Schubert mash up.
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15 Aug 2022
Oliver (the ticket tout)
Oliver has been selling tickets, cheap, outside the Albert Hall for over 40 years. Now he is 79 and the business is not what it used to be: the audience books online and nobody has cash anymore. Listen to the poignant story of one of the Proms' quiet background characters as he draws towards the end of an era. The episode ends with Harry the Piano playing his own special concert paraphrase on 'La donna è mobile' - and that's the kind 'mobile' that comes with a ringtone.
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11 Aug 2022
Nicholas Daniel
I pop backstage to chat with British oboist and conductor Nicholas Daniel, a former winner, several moons and many suns ago, of the BBC Young Musician of the Year. We talked about him playing at the Proms, Vaughan Williams's messy manuscripts and how he was pulled over by police whilst listening to music. And once again Harry the Piano wraps things off, this time with his JS Bach take on Molly Malone. Enjoy!
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8 Aug 2022
Norman Lebrecht
Norman Lebrecht is one of the most celebrated writers on Classical Music. He is unashamedly pugnacious in his opinions about the industry, predicting recently that the 2022 Proms would be the last as we know them. So what comes next? Could the the BBC and Proms ever part company? Find out in this fascinating interview. Plus Rainer on buying tickets at the Albert Hall and Beethoven 5 by Harry the Piano.
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4 Aug 2022
Simon Townley
Pianist and broadcaster Simon knows a thing or two about music - like what Wagner nicked from Rogers and Hammerstein for example. Then there's what Mary Poppins has to do with La Traviata, plus he can explain the secret tricks composers use to make your heart melt. Special guest Harry the Piano works his magic on Mozart and Debussy.
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1 Aug 2022
Roxanna Panufnik
What's it like to be asked to compose a new piece for the Proms? I don't know, but Roxanna Panufnik absolutely does, having had her commission 'Songs of Darkness, Dreams of Light ' played at the Last Night in 2018. We chatted about her Polish heritage, how her work draws on complementary religious traditions and I tested out on her my exciting new concept for a game show 'I Wrote It'. And Harry the Piano rounds things off with his jazzy take on Handel.
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28 Jul 2022
Piers Lane
I pop down South London to meet up with and eat cake with pianist Piers Lane A.O. What does A.O mean? Pleased you asked, as it was a question I put to Piers as well as talking to him about his five solo performances at the Proms, as well as the joys of a digital page turner.
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25 Jul 2022
Rob Cowan
Rob Cowan has been a BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM radio presenter over many years, so who better to talk to about the behind the scenes shenanigans of broadcasting the Proms than he? Amongst other things we chatted about his first experience of the Proms, argue over the merits of Mahler 7 and the most memorable Prom ever!. And Harry the piano gives us his cut-down version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
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21 Jul 2022
Norma Fisher
The Proms was different back then. Norma Fisher had a sparkling solo career in the 60s and 70s including a number of Proms appearances, and is now one of Britain’s most respected piano teachers . Hear about her BBC audition to an, apparently, completely empty Albert Hall; not making eye contact with Sir Malcolm Sargent, and overcoming the horrors of a memory lapse whilst playing Rachmaninov live at the Proms. Plus: review of Cynthia Erivo and our usual musical treat from Harry the Piano.
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17 Jul 2022
First Night & Ivan Hewett
In which Rainer - that's me - reviews the First night of the Proms and chats to Ivan Hewett who is chief music critic of the Daily Telegraph. We chatted around the history of the Proms, his top tips for this year's programme, his thoughts on the Last Night, and the Prommer who wanted her ashes spread at the Royal Albert Hall. And there's a Bob Marley inspired Tchaikovsky Fantasia played by our Proms in the Pub pianist, Harry The Piano.
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12 Jul 2022
Tasmin Little
Violinist Tasmin Little OBE has played 21 times at the Proms. Hear her great stories about walking up the gangplank to the stage at the Albert Hall, dealing with orchestra members who hover round her changing room practising the very concerto she is about to play, and much more besides.
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