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A virtual Proms season is to be welcomed, but the unique Royal Albert Hall atmosphere is what makes the concerts so special•News: Proms to go ahead this summer but not as we know them
I first went to a Proms concert as a teenager. Just as one does still today, I joined the queue that snakes around the outside of the Albert Hall, bought an arena ticket for a few pounds and stood – back in the days when social distancing belonged to dystopian novels – wedged between an armpit to my left, a rucksack to my right, and a suit in front of me who tutted his disapproval when I whispered to my friend. I had to crane my neck to see the musicians, but I was thrilled to be so close to the music that it felt I could inhale it. In the past three decades, I’ve been lucky enough to go to hundreds more Proms, and whether in boxes, stalls, the choir, or from the vertigo-inducing heights of the gallery the experience is special, the atmosphere crackles. 
Like every live event this summer, the Proms, of course, is not able to take place. Instead, the BBC has announced a virtual festival across the eight-week season, with archived concerts each night, and, come late August, a fortnight of live-streamed performances from musicians inside an empty Albert Hall. Continue reading...