Prom 73: Vienna Philharmonic, Welser-Möst

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra like to do things their way. They still show little compunction about discriminating on sexual and ethnic grounds and for over 70 years have maintained the idiosyncratic position of having no fixed principal conductor. Instead, like the prettiest girl in the school year, they carefully bestow grace and favour on a special chosen few. One of their longest running relationships has been with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a partnership whose early results – trail-blazingly authentic - regularly raised Viennese hackles. So it was a great disappointment to learn that Harnoncourt – 80 this year - had been taken ill and that Franz Welser-Möst - whose former orchestra, the London Philharmonic, had nicknamed him Frankly Worse Than Most - would take his Proms place.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra like to do things their way. They still show little compunction about discriminating on sexual and ethnic grounds and for over 70 years have maintained the idiosyncratic position of having no fixed principal conductor. Instead, like the prettiest girl in the school year, they carefully bestow grace and favour on a special chosen few. One of their longest running relationships has been with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a partnership whose early results – trail-blazingly authentic - regularly raised Viennese hackles. So it was a great disappointment to learn that Harnoncourt – 80 this year - had been taken ill and that Franz Welser-Möst - whose former orchestra, the London Philharmonic, had nicknamed him Frankly Worse Than Most - would take his Proms place.