Charlotte Northedge 

Prom 13: CBeebies Prom – review

The first prom pitched at the under-fives keeps its young audience entertained with its mix of CBeebies favourites and rousing tunes, writes Charlotte Northedge
  
  

Bernard Cribbins, CBeebies Prom July 2014
Making history... Bernard Cribbins and Salty the dog at the first ever CBeebies Prom, July 2014. Photograph: Chris Christodoulou/BBC Photograph: Chris Christodoulou/BBC

Towards the end of the CBeebies Prom, Bernard Cribbins – famous to his young audience as the eponymous hero of Old Jack’s Boat – announces that his on-screen dog Salty will go down in history: it is the first time in its 120 years that an animal has taken part in the Proms. It is probably also the first time an audience member has invaded the stage – almost making it to the string section before being wrestled down by his mother - but then this is the first Prom pitched at the under-fives.

CBeebies favourites, including Mr Bloom and Swashbuckler’s Gem, pop up among the crowd at the Royal Albert Hall, eliciting excited gasps and waves from surrounding toddlers. Then the BBC Philharmonic kicks off with an Overture on Cbeebies Themes and the children, for the most part, fall surprisingly quiet.

Not every piece is so instantly recognisable to a three-year old, but that doesn’t seem to matter. The Hornpipe from Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea-Songs is a rousing hit, with audience participation encouraged by conductor Stephen Bell. Excited chatter is enough to drown out quieter moments, for example in the Dargason from Holst’s St Paul’s Suite. But the finale, a BBC commission called Around Sound by Barrie Bignold, involving competitive singing and the chimes of Big Ben, leaves the children on a high.

This, my three-year old Sam declares, is the “best bit”; though he sits through most of the hour-long performance wide-eyed and open-mouthed. It is hard to tell whether he’s more struck by the presence of his favourite TV stars than by the orchestra, but the best moments – music aside – combine the two, for example when CBeebies presenters introduce the instruments. Some interludes fall flat: a pre-recorded strand of the show in which Robert the Robot from Justin’s House tours London recording everyday sounds feels unnecessary when there is so much that is new and exciting within the hall itself. But as we file out, Sam asks if he can join in with the orchestra next year, so it looks like classical music has scored at least one new under-five fan.

 

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