The Last Night of the Proms, review

Britain’s economy is shot to pieces, our green and pleasant land will soon be covered in white satanic windmills, and we slip relentlessly down the world league in all the measures that matter. But for three hours we could forget all that, because when it comes to having a jolly good knees-up, we are world class. The world agrees, because there it was in the hall, waving its various multi-coloured flags alongside the Union Jacks.

It was all as silly as expected. The chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jirí Belohlávek, was “shot’’ by Goldie while playing a vacuum cleaner (in Malcolm Arnold’s Grand, Grand overture). That great mezzo Sarah Connolly sang Rule Britannia dressed as an Admiral

Balloons soared aloft, to roars of approval. Poppers exploded.

But this knees-up isn’t as innocent as it seems. Everything has to be carefully weighed up: real music versus fun, regions versus the centre, traditional versus old. Things kicked off with a post-modern fanfare by Oliver Knussen. Then came a pre-modern arrangement of Purcell: that is, a vast romantic one done before “historically informed performance’’ got going .

The fascinating thing about the Last Night is that there are always some moments of real depth. Here they came from Sarah Connolly, who gave lovely, rapt performances of Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrendes Gesellen and the famous lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas .

Why are they there? Because otherwise the only moments of strong feeling would be the patriotic hymns at the end. And all Prom directors realise in their bones that this would be a bad thing. The American conductor David Robertson – a humanly sensitive man as well as fine conductor – knows that too, which is why he prefaced Land of Hope and Glory with some heartfelt remarks about the orchestra as a symbol of how differing nations can get along. This drew the sting of all those nationalist sentiments, which is why everyone could sing along with a good conscience. As a party the Last Night is pretty good. As a piece of cultural/political manipulation, it’s a masterpiece.

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Proms Spectacular (Castle Howard)

Every year, around the middle of August, Castle Howard stages the "Proms Spectacular". The huge stage is erected by the side of the lake, in front of the House, which makes an imposing setting for the event. The idea is to take a picnic, and most people take picnic baskets, chairs, and rugs. Others take tables, candelabras, champagne and smoked salmon. The evening begins with an opera singer, and the main performance this year, was by the English National Orchestra conducted by Jae Alexander, and tenor 

Wynne Evans and soprano Sarah Ryan also performed. The programme included: O Sole Mio, and Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, alongside the more traditional flag waving anthems of Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory.

The main performance began with an aerobatic display by a World War 2 Spitfire, while the orchestra played the theme from 633 Squadron, and the Battle of Britain, and ended with a spectacular fireworks display as they played the 1812 Overture.

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Last Night of the Proms date for Leeds singing sensation

A Leeds singing sensation – who can sing in perfect Mandarin Chinese – will be performing at the Last Night of the Proms in Harrogate.

Soprano Lucy Watmough, 18, from Otley, will be singing a solo and duetting with one of Britain's leading tenors, Alfie Boe, at Harrogate International Centre on Saturday, May 15.

Lucy will be accompanied by the Manchester Camerata Orchestra.

The Prince Henry's Grammar School pupil, pictured, who is studying for her A-Levels, can also sing in Czech, Spanish, Italian, German and French.

Once the teenager has finished her exams she will be returning to the studio to record some new material for her latest CD

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BBC Worldwide takes BBC Music content to the big screen for the first time

Select Cineplex Entertainment Theatres nationally to present Proms live in high-definition on Saturday, September 12, 2009

BBC Worldwide Music announces today that the BBC Last Night of the Proms will be broadcast live via satellite from The Royal Albert Hall to cinemas across the world. BBC Worldwide Music is working with partners BY Experience and Cineplex Entertainment in Canada; to allow music lovers to simultaneously experience what is billed as the 'biggest classical music party in the world'.

This is a landmark venture for BBC Music content, presenting one of Britain's most iconic music events on the big screen and in digital surround sound. BBC Last Night of the Proms is traditionally sold as a music programme to international broadcasters and will this year be shown in over fifteen territories around the world including Japan, Germany, Norway and Australia.

"BBC Last Night of the Proms is one of the most popular musical celebrations enjoyed by millions of people and we are delighted to extend the experience live to guests exclusively at our theatres," said Pat Marshall, Vice-President, Communications and Investor Relations, Cineplex Entertainment. "There is no better way to experience some of the world's leading artists than on the big screen and in digital surround sound."

The ethos of the BBC Proms is to make classical music accessible and modern technology is extending this to music fans globally. BY Experience has a wealth of experience in providing arts content to theatre audiences internationally as the company behind the hugely successful The Met: Live in HD and National Theatre NT Live concepts.

The Proms were founded in 1895. The BBC began running them in 1927 and since then the Last Night has become one of the most famous musical events in the world, watched and listened to by millions. The 2009 season, which began on July 17th, consists of 100 concerts and will culminate with a powerful finale on September 12th that will feature leading international artists and an all-embracing musical programme that introduces new works alongside much-loved classics.

Salim Mukaddam, Head of Commercial Affairs at BBC Worldwide Music said "This is the first time BBC Music content will be screened in cinemas around the world and we're excited to take such an amazing concert to global audiences. The Royal Albert Hall holds around 5,250 people but this presentation will allow fans to be part of the experience no matter where they are in the world. Hopefully this will be the first of many theatrical events from BBC Worldwide Music."

In the UK, BBC Last Night of the Proms is also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. The first half is shown on BBC TWO and the second part on BBC ONE. It is also available via the BBCiPlayer for up to seven days after the broadcast.

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Sir David Attenborough to perform at Proms

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH is to make his performing debut at the Last Night Of The Proms this weekend - playing a floor polisher.

The legendary natural history broadcaster will take part in a performance of Sir Malcolm Arnold's comic work A Grand, Grand Overture, which has parts for floor polisher, three vacuum cleaners and four rifles, as well as a full orchestra.

Accompanying Sir David will be drum and bass musician Goldie on vacuum cleaner while comedian Rory Bremner and journalist Martha Kearney take two of the rifle parts.

As well as Arnold's unusual work, Saturday's concert will also feature the traditional Last Night favourites: Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land Of Hope And Glory.

Sir David made a guest appearance as a speaker at the Proms at the family-orientated Darwin Extravaganza For Kids earlier this summer, but Saturday will be his first musical performance.

Goldie also took part in the Darwin Prom, composing a classical work on the theme of evolution called Sine Tempore.

The finale to the 115th Proms season, which began on 17 July, will be broadcast live on Radio 3 and BBC television.

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Two tickets sold every second in Proms booking overhaul

Nearly two tickets a second were sold for this year's bbc proms tickets after a new booking system prompted unprecedented demand.

The change to a first come, first served system, in which booking went live online, by phone and in person at 8am yesterday, created a rush that saw 5,000 people queuing online at the peak.

A further 3,872 turned up in person at the Royal Albert Hall and nearly 9,000 more booked by phone.

Six concerts - including the opening night with Mahler's Symphony No 8, the two Doctor Who Proms and Plácido Domingo in the opera Simon Boccanegra - sold out, but standing tickets are always available on the day. Another five concerts were set to sell out today.

In total, 80,011 tickets - 103 every minute - had been sold when the Royal Albert Hall booking office closed last night - 297,500 were sold for the whole of last season. This year's Proms run from July 16 to September 11.

In the past, people who bought the Proms guide got priority booking and sent off a form with a blank cheque, learning later what they had been allocated. A BBC spokeswoman said: "We have made the system fairer... but we'd like to say there are still tickets available for the vast majority of events."

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Bryn Terfel in his pomp brings swagger to finale

Majestic in voice, massive in stature, Bryn Terfel effortlessly hijacked the Last Night of the Proms. The only thing ever likely to upstage the mighty Welsh bass-baritone was his own costumes.

Before the concert I did wonder why one of Beethoven’s worst works – the Choral Fantasy for piano (played by a diffident Hélène Grimaud), chorus and orchestra – had been inserted into Terfel’s selection of opera solos.

He was back in concert dress for a beautifully sustained account of Vaughan Williams’s Silent Noon and an overextended, if mellifluous, medley of national songs arranged by Chris Hazell. But then he produced an astonishing bespoke creation – a white suit embroidered back and front with the Welsh dragon – to lead us in Rule, Britannia.

Nothing could compete with that. But Anna Meredith’s new work, called froms , came close. The 30-year-old Scot utilised not only the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus in the hall, but (thanks to satellite links) hundreds of other BBC musicians across Britain, who stomped with wild, not-quite-synchronised abandon for an action-packed five minutes. Short, sharp and sassy, froms presented minimalist riffs with maximalist forces. I enjoyed it, though there was bemusement around me.

Otherwise, it was business not quite as usual. We had Henry Wood’s Fanfares, but not his Fantasia on Sea Songs – so no Hornpipe clap-along. But Sir Roger Norrington did give us the traditional encore of Land of Hope and Glory, prefaced with one good joke. “Can you sing with a bit more vibrato, please?” asked the conductor, who caused a minor musicological furore this season by getting his strings to play Elgar without any vibrato at all.

The Proms’ penultimate night was a disappointment. Gianandrea Noseda can be effective in repertoire that suits his Mr Whippy conducting technique. He demonstrated all too clearly on Friday that this repertoire doesn’t include Beethoven’s Choral Symphony. Alhough there were spirited contributions from the BBC Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, I cannot recall a Ninth so lacking in understanding or gravitas.

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