E Robertson
The second part of this concert I found more interesting than the first because it was lively and had more of a story to it. To me it felt a little bit like space. It made me feel like I was in space. The way he conducted his own work was amazing. I am a GCSE music student at Callington Community College a specialist music college and the Dr Atomic Symphony completely inspires me.

Sean O
Short break for breath (and polite coughing) and John Adams is back, still in his white jacket and ready to conduct a thrilling piece of his own called Century Rolls. Impressively delicate almost mechanical notes open and lead us into a piece that features an absolutely mesmerising Finnish pianist called Olli Mustonen - how on earth does he play like that? How does he hit the right notes with those expansive arm movements? Those fingers come from such a height. The main body of the orchestra looks - to this untrained eye - to be pretty conventional, save for the array of strange and rather impressive percussion - giant Chinese gongs, tubular bells... We’re talking warm inviting math here, a bright rhythmic alertness and once again that captivating coordinated arm movement of the string section that occurs just above the standing heads of the crowd - a sea of violins, arms moving like waves. All kinds of classical references to Twenties and Thirties jazz and bebop - drifting into dreamy passages and never for a moment letting you out of its grasp. It's incredibly detailed, dense, often with layers and layers of fast notes weaving together to make a shimmering texture. It seems ridiculous that he was lumped in with minimalist composers like Philip Glass at the start of his career: this couldn't be more of a contrast, and not for nothing are people bandying around the phrase 'maximalist'. Thirty-one wonderfully captivating thrilling sometimes very delicately gentle minutes - and all with that amazing piano. The thing about John Adams is that you don’t feel that he’s isolated and closed to outside influences - he’s of a generation that has naturally absorbed all kinds of music, which means, even thought he’s incredibly complex and full of detail, it makes perfect sense to our ears - just down to earth, emotional and human yet rewardingly avant garde at the same time. It's only 'challenging' if you're a musician - for all the super-complexity of the rhythms and melodies Adams' music is incredibly human and incredibly easy to digest. Century Rolls is based around the style and animation of 20th Century mechanical player-piano music - hence passages which sound brilliantly like analogue sequencers burble away, but weirdly infected by human feeling. Century Rolls' final section, cheerily titled Hail Bop, has even more references to avant player-piano composer Conlon Nancarrow (Adams is much nicer to listen to, apparently), and concludes to joyous applause and cheers Second half of the evening is taken up by the (much anticipated) world premier of a new symphonic version of a 2005 John Adams opera, the original three-hour score stripped of narrative and compressed into the Doctor Atomic symphony. A thirty-five minute piece in four parts, it revolves around Robert Oppenheimer, the moral dilemma of nuclear invention and the creation of the atom bomb. Things get off to a dark and rather intense, almost heroic start: the race to create the bomb that will save the world... or destroy it; the personal conflicts of the people involved - quite a musical contrast to Century Rolls. This is imagination-firing stuff... Not as easy to grasp as the previous works tonight but moments burn into the memory, especially passages heavy on percussion that are indescribable in the acoustics of the Albert Hall, and probably impossible to capture on record. Which brings us back neatly round to why you have to give this experience a go - stuff a fiver in your pocket, find the little door and the friendly people round the back of the Albert Hall, bring a cushion and some ears - no flags required - although at time of writing you've only got a week of Proms left - check the listings for what's on.

Karin Edwards
What a treat to see the composer conducting his own work--no translation required. This was the one Prom this season for which I bought a seated ticket, just to guarantee a perfect view of the orchestra and conductor at work. Just wish the individual behind hadn't decided the top of my seat back was a footrest!Olli Mustonen played the piano with such feeling on "Century Rolls," and that trumpet solo toward the end of the "Doctor Atomic Symphony" was mesmerising. I nearly wept.New works are always a bit of a hit-and-miss affair at the Proms, but I'd put this in the hit column. Of course, maybe I should "Listen Again" just to be sure. :-)

K McD
Reading other prommers reviews I'm either perverse or just getting old! I'm a long standing fan of Adams but found this an increasingly dispiriting evening. I enjoyed 'Billy the Kid' more than the professional reviewers but found this performance of 'Century Rolls' unsatisfying apart from the Satie-esq slow movement and 'Dr Atomic' basically just became boring which is not a word I ever thought I'd use about this composer.

Michael Thoseby
The Doctor Atomic Symphony was quite the most exciting piece of new music I've heard since the death of Shostakovich. A wonderful evening. I can only hope that Adams and the BBCSO have rushed off to Walthamstow Town Hall to record it for imminent release!

J. Penduck
Although I was a bit dubious about the first movement of Adams' Doctor Atomic Symphony (feeling it was a little too much like many of his other pieces) by the last movement I was completely won over, and am looking forward to hearing it again soon.

Rosemary Tate
This concert was brilliant! It was so special to see the composer conducting his own work. I loved the Doctor Atomic Symphony - a truly beautiful piece of music. The trumpet solo was amazing.