Music lover puts Proms notes on the page - The Jewish Chronicle

An avid Proms-goer, who started attending the world-renowned music festival as a schoolboy, has now put his anecdotes into a debut book — at the age of 97.

Dan Zerdin has just released Tales From The Proms, which he calls “a social history” of the classical music series.

The lively read is a mixture of personal recollections, interviews with musicians and conductors and little-known facts. “It is a book of bits and pieces, rather than a history,” said the former BBC producer and journalist.

Surprising tidbits include an orchestral walkout, an opening night strike and the Proms’ unique “siren sessions” during the Blitz in the Second World War, when musicians and audience members would put on impromptu performances for concertgoers who couldn’t get home during blackouts. “These were extraordinary”, says Zerdin.

Zerdin, from Wimbledon in southwest London, decided to put his in-depth knowledge down on paper following a series he produced for BBC World Service to mark the Proms’ centenary. “I started by using material from the interviews, and then I went on to do a lot more.”

Sharing one of his favourite anecdotes, Zerdin, who trained at RADA alongside Roger Moore, says in convincing Hungarian and Yorkshire accents: “My favourite story is about Georg Solti, who was conducting the LSO. He kept saying to the players: ‘My dears, you seem not to understand; I wish you to attack this note.’ Finally, a trumpeter from Yorkshire replied: ‘We are attackin’ the note, Sir Georg, but the note is defendin’ itself.’”

The Proms, which began in 1895 at the Queen’s Hall, were conceived as a series of affordable, so-called promenade concerts, under the leadership of conductor Henry Wood. Following the destruction of the venue during the Second World War, they moved to the Royal Albert Hall and now attract some 400,000 visitors every summer.

Zerdin’s own interest in the Proms was sparked aged 15, after going on a school trip to watch a rehearsal. “Wood usually didn’t like people to sit in on rehearsals, but for some reason, he gave permission to London schoolkids. It was really fun.”Afterwards, Zerdin became a regular “Prommer”, along with “a friend, who was equally addicted to classical music”.

One of Zerdin’s most memorable Proms concerts was the world premiere of Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 5 in D Major in 1943, which the composer conducted himself. “His Fourth Symphony had been quite an angry piece of music, so we didn’t know what to expect from his Fifth. It was quite an evening.”

In 2011, Zerdin was in the audience for a concert by the Israel Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta, when anti-Israel protesters interrupted the performance.

“The audience began yelling at them: ‘Out! Out!’ but the orchestra sat there calmly, and the conductor just stood and waited for everything to die down before starting the piece again.”

Zerdin, who is married to retired broadcaster Hilary Osborn and is father of journalist Judith Zerdin (formerly of the JC) and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, says that “frustratingly”, hearing loss means that he no longer attends the Proms. “I can hear individual instruments, but once the orchestra starts up, it’s very difficult.”

Yet, his Proms’ memories are still crystal clear. “When 1,250 Prommers are standing in the arena and it is a full house, the expectation and the concentration from the audience is quite different to other concerts. I think the Proms really are unique.”

Tales from the Proms – Stories from ‘the world’s greatest music festival’ compiled by Dan Zerdin is available on Amazon

The Last Night of the Proms is on September 9

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Music