Conductors' dressing room at the Albert Hall just before the 2009 Proms

From The Guardian:

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This is the classical music equivalent of seeing the teams' changing rooms at Twickenham or Wembley. Like those rooms, it goes through a huge transformation on event days. Here you see it in its calm state, waiting to receive close to 60 of the world's leading conductors — from Bernard Haitink, William Christie and Sir Andrew Davis in the first week of the Proms to Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Zubin Mehta near the end. Each will prepare here in their own way for the 76 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall over the 58 days of the festival.

It starts the day in this lonely state, then fills with activity at rehearsal times, might then be used for Radio 3 and BBC TV interviews before the evening concerts begin, only to be left alone to get a night's peace before the invasion begins the next day. It is a simple room, just off the below-ground backstage corridor, a short walk from the entrance on to the Royal Albert Hall stage.

The piano gives an opportunity for the conductor to work with a soloist, for him or her to try something out on the piano, or merely pass a few remaining idle moments before a rehearsal or a performance. Artists have different routines in this room. Some like to be left alone, others are happy to have friends, family, other musicians and staff to chat to.

Once the start of the rehearsal draws near, the room can become busier with practical issues being addressed — last-minute changes to rehearsal orders and stage layout, refreshment requirements, orchestra personnel issues, encore discussions, and so on. Often the discussions are a rare chance to talk about programming ideas for future seasons.

The room can be the venue for wonderful and surprising meetings — last year Nigel Kennedy and the rock legend Jeff Beck after their late-night Prom. It will be a real pleasure on Friday to welcome back Jirí Belohlávek, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, as he prepares to launch the 2009 Proms.

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[via What Alice Found]