Hurrah! The Proms have ended.

I know it seems an awful thing to say, but by the time we come to the end of 2 months worth of of Proms, I am starting to feel rather glad its over. Not that the festival did not include some wonderful gems. But the Festival covers every night from mid-July to mid-September, and every concert is broadcast on Radio 3. So this means that we miss out on Live broadcasts from events such as the Bayreuth Festival and the Edinburgh Festival. I know that these sort of broadcasts are saved up and given out later in the year, but it would be nice once in a while to hear a broadcast from Bayreuth during the summmer.

But I have another, even more venal reason for disliking the festival. Radio 3 uses it as an excuse to take CD Review off the air and replace it by Summer CD Review. I love CD Review and have been listening to it, in all its vicissitudes, since it was called Record Review. It is one of the few essential regular parts of my weekly listening, and I miss it dreadfully during the summer. Saturday mornings are just not the same without Building a Library, even when its a work I don't like or a review with whom I disagree!