:00:12. > :00:15.It all started eight weeks ago. There have been 74 concerts here at
:00:15. > :00:17.the Royal Albert Hall, thousands of musicians have been performing on
:00:17. > :00:21.stage and tens of thousands of people have been queuing for
:00:21. > :00:27.tickets. Now, well the party is already under way. It's the climax
:00:27. > :00:37.of the 2011 summer music making season, it is the Last Night of the
:00:37. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:05.Welcome to the Royal Albert Hall for the grandest of grand finales.
:01:05. > :01:11.It's another sellout concert as nearly 6,000 people wait to
:01:11. > :01:14.celebrate the end of another great season of Proms. Tonight, we'll
:01:14. > :01:19.hear performances from two international soloists, in the
:01:19. > :01:25.first half of the concert the superstar pianist Lang Lang will be
:01:25. > :01:28.dazzling us with a performance of a Concerto by Liszt and Britain's
:01:28. > :01:33.leading dramatic soprano Susan Bullock will be singing Wagner, a
:01:33. > :01:37.scene from the end of his epic Ring cycle. This isn't just a concert
:01:37. > :01:40.but a national occasion as we celebrate the Last Night with
:01:40. > :01:46.events around the country. If you want to see what's happening at any
:01:46. > :01:49.of those events you can press the red button on your remote control.
:01:49. > :01:53.Getting under way across the road is the Prom in the Park in Hyde
:01:53. > :01:57.Park. And in a few minutes Lang Lang will be performing on stage
:01:57. > :02:02.there before rushing back to join us here in the hall.
:02:02. > :02:05.But we start with a world premiere of a new work by the master of the
:02:05. > :02:09.Queen's music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. It's been written as a
:02:09. > :02:14.thank you to the promenaders in the arena and high up in the gallery
:02:14. > :02:19.who after every concert collect money for musical charities. The
:02:19. > :02:23.piece is called Musica Benevolens. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has
:02:23. > :02:27.incorporated text written by the promenaders about what music means
:02:27. > :02:37.to them. So, at the composer's request, the Prommers will take
:02:37. > :02:42.
:02:42. > :02:47.On stage are the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony
:02:47. > :02:51.Chorus and the leader of the orchestra is Andrew Haveron.
:02:51. > :02:55.They're already and waiting for the conductor, Edward Gardner who at 36
:02:55. > :02:59.is the youngest director to take charge of the Last Night of the
:02:59. > :03:05.Proms since Henry Wood conducted the first Last Night in 1895. There
:03:06. > :03:15.he is to open the final Prom of 2011 with Musica Benevolens by Sir
:03:16. > :03:16.
:03:16. > :12:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 539 seconds
:12:15. > :12:19.The world premiere of Musica Benevolens by Sir Peter Maxwell
:12:19. > :12:23.Davies, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC
:12:23. > :12:25.Symphony Chorus and the Fanfare Trumpeters of the Household
:12:25. > :12:29.Division, conducted by Edward Gardner, and not forgetting, of
:12:29. > :12:39.course, the enthusiastic contribution of the Prommers who
:12:39. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:54.this year so far raised �74,000 for And there is Sir Peter Maxwell
:12:54. > :13:02.Davies to take his bow. Just celebrated his 77th birthday a
:13:02. > :13:08.couple of days ago and his prohrfic output shows no sign of slowing.
:13:08. > :13:18.Wonderful character. His very first work was broadcast
:13:18. > :13:19.
:13:19. > :13:23.on the BBC's Children's Hour when he was just 12 years old.
:13:23. > :13:28.Now it's time for the Last Night tradition of honouring the founder
:13:28. > :13:35.of the Proms, Sir Henry wood by placing a chaplet of Laurels on the
:13:35. > :13:41.bust of the great man. Doing the honours for Sir Henry
:13:41. > :13:50.this year two promenaders proudly taking their place up above the
:13:50. > :13:54.choir. That's Nick Breckenfield giving Sir Henry a quick dust there.
:13:54. > :14:01.Nick bought his first season ticket in 1989 and hasn't missed a year
:14:01. > :14:09.since. With him Daffydd Price Jones, he started Promming 21 years ago
:14:10. > :14:15.when his young daughter dragged him into the arena.
:14:15. > :14:22.Hungarian composer Bartok completed his score for the ballet the Daily
:14:22. > :14:25.Mirror the Mirror - for the Miraculous Mandarin in 1926. It was
:14:25. > :14:31.premiered later that year, but the story of prostitution, robbery and
:14:31. > :14:35.murder was considered so scandalous that after only one more
:14:35. > :14:42.performance in Prague all future productions were banned. We are
:14:42. > :14:48.going to hear the suite which Bartok fashioned from the ballet.
:14:48. > :14:58.He made two short cuts and wrote a new ending. It's a real showpiece
:14:58. > :14:58.
:14:58. > :34:17.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 539 seconds
:34:17. > :34:21.and highly dramatic reflecting the The Miraculous Mandarin Suite by
:34:21. > :34:27.Bela Bartok performed tonight by the BBC Symphony Orchestra with
:34:27. > :34:32.Andrew Haveron and conducted by Edward Gardner. The ballet tells
:34:32. > :34:36.the tale of a Chinese Mandarin coaxed into a brothel where he is
:34:36. > :34:40.robbed, suffocated, stabbed and hung by three thugs but refuses to
:34:40. > :34:50.die, hence the miracle, until he has embraced the woman who lured
:34:50. > :34:50.
:34:50. > :34:54.him there. Gritty stuff. Since her first appearance at the
:34:54. > :34:58.Proms in 1995 Susan Bullock has gone on to become one of the
:34:58. > :35:01.world's leading dramatic Sopranos. She's been described as having a
:35:01. > :35:11.turbo-charged voice and that's certainly what you need for singing
:35:11. > :35:11.
:35:11. > :35:14.Wagner. In a few minutes she will sing the Immolation scene scene
:35:14. > :35:17.from Gotterdammerung. She sings the role of the grieve stricken
:35:17. > :35:21.Valkyrie Brunnhilde who with the magic ring on her finger leaps on
:35:21. > :35:25.horseback on to the funeral pyre of her lover to destroy the ring and
:35:25. > :35:35.save the world. We spoke to Susan about Wagner and
:35:35. > :35:40.
:35:40. > :35:44.the physical and emotional When did you first hear Wagner?
:35:44. > :35:52.first heard Wagner when I was sitting in my house as a young girl
:35:52. > :35:56.and my brother came home from university and played it full blast
:35:56. > :36:00.in his bedroom, we had no choice but to listen to it and eventually
:36:00. > :36:10.I went in and sat there and followed the score and thout wow,
:36:10. > :36:11.
:36:11. > :36:15.this is incredible. I was about 12 Tell us more about the complexity
:36:15. > :36:20.of Brunnhilde as a character to play? To do the role is huge. I
:36:20. > :36:24.mean, it is an Everest. Especially this piece, because you go through
:36:24. > :36:28.such a huge journey as the character, from the girl who opens
:36:28. > :36:34.the piece, the young woman in love, to the woman at the end and takes
:36:34. > :36:38.charge of what is to be the future, the destiny of the world. It's a
:36:38. > :36:41.huge journey. To do it in isolation in a concert is also demanding
:36:41. > :36:49.because you have to try and get all that drama into the 20 minutes,
:36:49. > :36:53.although people won't have seen the previous five hours. What is it
:36:53. > :36:57.about Wagner that divides opinion so strongly? A lot of people just,
:36:57. > :37:01.if you say the word Wagner they go oh, loud, screaming people. Long,
:37:01. > :37:07.boring. You know, drawn out stories. If it's done properly it's actually
:37:07. > :37:11.some of the most gripping theatre you will ever see. Of course,
:37:11. > :37:15.normally the orchestra is in a pit and this time I have them all
:37:15. > :37:22.behind me so to feel that wave of sound coming right at my back is