LMM Executive Director Rob Adediran is appearing as a recurring guest on the BBC Proms coverage this summer. Rob will be blogging from behind the scenes of The Proms for London Music Masters, so make sure you follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates!
I really enjoyed the research for this Prom; Sibelius, Prokofiev and Strauss – three huge figures of 20th century western classical music. And to be honest quite a lot of research was needed to make sure I was up to speed. The producers work on the script for the presenter (it’s Katie Derham for this one) up until the last minute so there are a whole range of questions which could be asked, and if she and I are doing our jobs right then it should come across like conversation, rather than a Q and A with me trying to recall semi-scripted responses from my short term memory!
Katie and Suzy Klein have been incredible to work with, they have startlingly good recall and an effortless delivery style which – given all the things they have to contend with – is frankly remarkable. Trying to keep my end up means that I have to build or refresh (depending on the programme) a sizeable knowledge bank on the composers, their lives, the works performed, the performers on the night and any relevant themes that are being celebrated in the Prom. For this one I was helped with the Sibelius by a former colleague from the LPO, Andrew Mellor, now a music critic and Nordic music expert (result!).
As is always the case we barely scratched the surface in the time we have between pieces, but if you have any questions about Sibelius’ emergence as the musical hero of emergent Finnish culture at the turn of the last century, the impact of Prokofiev’s return to Russia on his compositional style, or the synopsis of Der Rosenkavalier, email me now whilst it is all still fresh in my memory!
On the night itself there were a couple of curveballs thrown at us. The soloist for the Prokofiev, Lisa Battiashvili, had to withdraw at the last minute which was such a shame for her, and the audience. It also meant the filming schedule gained three extra minutes as Lisa had pre-recorded an interview discussing the concerto, which had to be scrapped, so Katie and I had to give the producers something to work with that covered her talking points. And then when we got on set I discovered we were standing! This might not sound like a curveball, but standing on camera is more challenging that you might think!
The team must have set the lighting up with a much smaller person (I’m 6’3”) as there was some last minute adjusting done and moments before the camera rolled I was given another mark (a specific railing to look for!) to optimise the light, and told to move my hand as it was in shot when the camera was on Katie. I tried to think about standing as little as possible whilst the cameras were rolling… The team also asked me to prepare a synopsis of Der Rosenkavalier and I had a go at cramming that into a 20 second segment – I really doubt that made the cut!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Next stop, last night of the Proms on September 14th. See you there and then.
Rob