Criticizing the BBC Proms is practically a cottage industry in the UK, but Paul Driver says that this year’s installment served as a reminder of how precious the two-month festival really is. “Though most of the concerts I attended had a teeming audience… there was always the sense, created by the concentric layout of the seats and the presence of standees in the arena, of being at a soirée in which people cluster round a piano to hear a marvellous player.”