The “Night Of The Proms” has been coming to Germany for 30 years, just as surely as Advent. The big pop-meets-classical traveling circus is a ritual like buying a Christmas tree. And it has its own rituals, even if the “Hey Jude” finale or the “Pomp and Circumstance” march (the reference to the origin of the crossover idea in England) are no longer as set as the furious “Music (was my first love)” by the now deceased band leader John Miles. But one thing is true: a ticket counter is set up at the concert venue, for example in Munich’s Olympiahalle. There, many guests buy discounted tickets for next year.
Most tickets for the “Night of the Proms” are bought before anyone knows which star guests will be performing their hits next year. This speaks for the great atmosphere that is there every year. The early buyers are all the more eager to see the cast list – it’s a bit like unwrapping presents.
This time, there is again a colourful mix: Shaggy meets Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics and the German pop darling Max Giesinger, plus the Cutting Crew and StarshipAnd like the then unknown Andrea Bocelli, there is also an up-and-coming classical talent: the 19-year-old pianist Louis Philippson is already a star on Tik Tok because of his compositions, his arrangements and his original interpretations of pop songs.
Of the popular numbers at the Proms, it is enough to know one or two hits to know who is meant – and these hits are then performed powerfully and snappily by the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra and the Fine Fleur choir under the direction of conductor Alexandra Arrieche.
What exactly remains a secret for now. But with Dave Stewart, even without Annie Lennox, you can hope for Eurythmics hits like “Sweet Dreams” and “Here Comes The Rain Again”. With Jamaican reggae pop star Shaggy, you can hope for “Boombastic” and “It Wasn’t Me”. With Cutting Crew, it was the 80s ballad “(I Just) Died in Your Arms”, with Starship, it was “We Built This City” and “Sara”. And Max Giesinger may not dance with millions of fans right away, but he should delight around 10,000 guests every evening with “80 Millionen” and “Wenn sie tanzt”.
Night of the Proms 2024, Munich: Fri., Sat. & Sun., 6, 7 and 8 December, Olympiahalle
Further tour dates:
29 November Mannheim
30 November Dortmund
1 December Oberhausen
3 & 4 December Frankfurt
5 December Stuttgart
13 & 14 December Hamburg
15 December Bremen
18 December Erfurt
19 December Hanover
20 & 21 December Cologne