At the risk of unwanted revelation I can say that I’ve had more melting moments in the Royal Albert Hall than anywhere else. I’ve sweltered and wilted and sauna-ed through Ring cycles and symphonies, new works and musicals, requiems and Rule Britannias. Not this year. The BBC Proms 2022 season is the coolest place to be. The Albert Hall has cracked it, at last, with a new ventilation system, upgraded in lockdown, that works. It cost £6.8m.
This is not only important for audiences, who now have the chance to concentrate without an excess of fanning or fainting. Musicians themselves can perform without the unpredictable distraction of strings snapping, pegs slipping or tuning running awry. In a Radio 3 interview, a clarinettist described having to shut his eyes to play there in the past, because of sweat pouring down his face. Since wind players are always, in effect, soloists, we can only imagine the nightmare.
