Last Night of the Proms - Part 1 BBC Proms

A very warm welcome to the climax of the world's largest classical

musical festival. The Last Night Of The Proms 2012. There have been 75

concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Tonight certificate celebrating --

tonight we are celebrating. We have some show stopping opera arias. A

few surprise Olympic appearances and the traditional Last Night

party treats. The celebrations are spilling out beyond the Albert Hall

to events across the country with Proms in the Park in Belfast,

Caerphilly, and glass glow and in high -- Glasgow and in Hyde Park.

We have over 200 musicians on stage already. The magnificent BBC

Symphony Orchestra and chorus led by Stephen Bryant. Waiting

backstage are two stars, Joseph Calleja and Nicola Benedetti.

And there is our leader, Stephen Bryant coming on now. But we are

going to be kicking off with a short fanfare for orchestra written

by composer and and clarinettist, Mark Simpson. He shot to fame in

2006 as the first ever winner of both BBC Young Musician of the Year

and Young Composer of the Year. The fanfare was was commissioned by the

BBC and it is called Sparks. Here MUSIC: "Sparks"

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That was the world premiere of Sparks. The curtain raiser to Last

Night Of the Proms with the con conductor, vir Jiri Belohlavek and

that's 26-year-old Mark Simpson who dedicated it to his mum who

described it as a little present to the best mum in the world.

Well now, it is time for the first of the many Last Night traditions.

This one honours the founder of the Proms, Sir Henry Wood.

Well, doing the honours for Sir Henry are two dedicated Promenaders.

And there they are. They are Ian Slade and Erhard Miller. They have

put the laurels on Sir Henry and polished that bust which is lent to

the BBC Proms every summer by the MUSIC: "Towards A New Life"

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It was dedicated to the Czech Army and Army and conducted by Jiri

Belohlavek. It won a silver at the 1932 Olympics when you could win

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MUSIC: "Songs Of Farewell" MUSIC: "Songs Of Farewell"

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Songs of Farewell and conducted by Jiri Belohlavek. The work of a

composer whose 150th an versery -- anniversary, The Proms has been

celebrating this year. Tonight, I'm joined throughout the

concert by a very special guest, Australian born and American

soprano, Danielle de Niese. Your first Last Night of the Proms.

can't believe it. I used to watch the Proms concert and I have been

to the Royal Albert Hall so many times, but my view has been

different because I have been on the stage. It is a coming together

of so many wonderful musicians, it is like our Olympics and our Team

It has been an extraordinary season. You have been performing in Proms

before and it is very special for a musician? It is incredible. It is

quite an amazing experience to be on the stage here. You see 6,000

people and when you are on the stage, you feel so close to

everyone. So it is a very magical place, the Royal Albert Hall.

We are going to hear from another marvellous opera star, Joseph

Calleja. Tell us what is wonderful about him? He is just the voice. He

is the voice of the modern tenor and he harks back to the old style

way of singing. He is a romantic lead. He is our hero. He is

charming and we are going to enjoy so much his performance.

We are going to hear an aria first. Tell us about this aria? Well, it

is a story of love. He resolves to exile his love, Amelia and his

trusted adviser back to England in order to resist the temptation of

love. It is all desperately moving and I

think Joseph Calleja is about to appear. Yes, here he is, Joseph

Calleja to sing this aria from MUSIC: "Forse la soglia attinse"

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Joseph Calleja singing Forse La Soglia Attinse from The Masked Ball.

A wonderful performance there from Joseph Calleja whose singing career

started when his English auntie who lived near Scunthorpe heard him

doing an impression of Pavarotti and suggested he join a choir in

Malta. He spent every summer of his childhood in the UK in York and

Skipton and in the Lake District so he has great fondnesses for all his

visits here. We are going to hear him sing an aria in which the

tragic hero reads poetry to the MUSIC: "Pourquoi me reveiller?"

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Joseph Calleja singing an aria. We are going to hear from Joseph

Calleja shortly, but let me ask my guest Danielle de Niese about that

performance. It was extraordinary, wasn't it? His ability to make what

we know a difficult voice category, the tenor to sound effortless,

that's the magic of Joseph Calleja and to see the broading -- brooding,

another story of love. She is a married woman and you can imagine

why she would melt after hearing that. It was stunning.

It looked as if you wanted to join in? Absolutely. My god. He is a

fantastic tenor and I am really happy for his success.

What is it about the tenor voice that makes us go weak at the knees?

You can tell tell by the creamy sound. It is luxurious and it is

decadent. The effortlessness is really important. And of course,

everyone waits for the high notes and that pressure must be enormous,

but when the tenor can sing the high notes and soar, we fly with

him. It really is magical to experience.

Danielle, thank you so much. We will be coming back to you later.

Next, we will hear the other soloist, Nicola Benedetti. She will

be playing a real Proms classic by Max Bruch. It is powerfully lyrical.

It is a favourite of Nicola's. It has so much peace and harmony in it