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07/09/2004 Beethoven's 9th Symphony by the Berliner Philharmoniker
Sunday's Prom concert - Beethoven's 9th by the Berliner Philharmoniker - was a triumph. Leading an inspired orchestra, conductor Simon Rattle squeezed every last nuance from this monumental cornerstone of the classical repertoire. Great music. Great band: it just doesn't get any better than this. Easy to see why it's been chosen as the European Anthem. This summer's Proms have witnessed an unusually compelling number of concerts. Bach's B Minor Mass, Wyton Marsalis's Lincoln Center band, and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi spring readily to mind. Friday sees the last stand-out gig, with a recital by Anna Netrebko, the Russian diva currently causing so much excitement in the world of opera. Then Saturday sees the ghastly annual spectacle of the Last Night of the Proms, which has little to do with music. It's a celebration of naff petit bourgeois triumphalism, built around an obscene display of flag waving, recalling a disreputable British imperial past. It used to be confined to radio and TV, but the BBC and other operators now run accompanying outdoor celebrations, staging concerts of dubious middlebrow pap and unchallenging singalong crossover. A great festival of music is thus besmirched. It's a good day to leave the country. I feel like a day trip to France coming on. Gerry Smith
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