Last August; a gorgeous summer’s evening in London, walking through the back streets and alley ways of South Kensington; a crowd is slowly coming together on the pavements. A stream of people thickening in the approach to the Albert Hall. There’s a sense of excited expectation; the night of the ninth symphony as part of the Prom season. Except the concert is cancelled due to an alleged fire in the hall itself…

And tonight instead it’s on the television. The music is fantastic but the scattered camera angles peering down on the head of the cellist? The close ups of the french horn players with bulging cheeks? The montage of hopping from one scene to another; first the close up; then the full chorus; then a magnification out of all perspective to the fingers of the violinists?

No; forget second life and virtual reality; there’s no substitute to being packed on the floor with all the other prommers , moving from foot to foot and craning the neck to catch a sight of the back of the conductor.