:00:00. > :00:13.So far this summer, we have had some spectacular football at the World
:00:14. > :00:18.Cup in Brazil. Mud and rain did nothing to dampen the spirits at
:00:19. > :00:23.Glastonbury and the tennis world descended on SW 19 for a top-flight
:00:24. > :00:28.Wimbledon championship. Now it is time for the "Jewel in the Crown" of
:00:29. > :01:04.BBC music. Welcome to the 120th season of the BBC Proms.
:01:05. > :01:11.. We see the very best of the best. They give their best and sometimes
:01:12. > :01:17.better than that. It is a tremendous experience. You cannot miss a single
:01:18. > :01:21.note. It is something everybody should do
:01:22. > :01:25.at least once in their lifetime. It is unbelievable that you can come
:01:26. > :01:30.and see some of the best performers living on stage, for ?5. The people
:01:31. > :01:34.that come and stand in the queue for hours - that shows you that you're
:01:35. > :01:39.doing something really right. When you hear the audience
:01:40. > :01:45.supporting you and clapping and cheering, it gives me goose bumps.
:01:46. > :01:50.It is the greatest musical there is. You feel like rock stars. If they
:01:51. > :01:54.reach out, you can reach out. You can touch across.
:01:55. > :01:58.There is a sense of history. Everybody has performed there.
:01:59. > :02:03.People walk into the building and leave the building smiling. What's
:02:04. > :02:07.more important than that? In the Proms 2014, there is a huge choice
:02:08. > :02:12.of performances to look forward to across the summer and across the
:02:13. > :02:16.BBC. It is a truly global season. We have more international orchestras
:02:17. > :02:22.visiting than ever before, from China, to Melbourne, to ka tar to
:02:23. > :02:28.Iceland. The range of music is just as wide. Of course, we'll have the
:02:29. > :02:33.classics by great composers. That's not all.
:02:34. > :02:38.We mark the centenary of the First World War with many concerts,
:02:39. > :02:46.including the War Horse Proms. And the world premier of the Requiem
:02:47. > :02:54.Fragments. We feature music by Richard straus to mark the 150th
:02:55. > :02:59.birthday of his birth. John Wilson and his orchestra are back. We are
:03:00. > :03:04.transported back to the swing era with the Battle of the Bands. Some
:03:05. > :03:13.of the music to look forward to over the next eight weeks.
:03:14. > :03:18.So, hello. Tonight, we open the Proms 2014 in grand style w a single
:03:19. > :03:24.masterpiece by the great English composer Sir Edward Elgar. We will
:03:25. > :03:27.hear his powerful oratorio, The Kingdom, performed by the BBC
:03:28. > :03:31.Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC BBC National Chorus of
:03:32. > :03:34.Wales. Nearly 400 performers in all. It is one of 26 Proms on television
:03:35. > :03:53.during the season. All the concerts can be heard live
:03:54. > :03:59.on Radio 3 and you can find the details on the website.
:04:00. > :04:04.Tonight's performance is conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Always a
:04:05. > :04:09.favourite here at the Proms. Returning this season in his 70th
:04:10. > :04:15.birthday year. Elgar's The Kingdom is ideally suited to the Victorian
:04:16. > :04:20.splendour of the Royal Albert Hall. The five parts tell the stories of
:04:21. > :04:25.the apostles as order they men reacting to extraordinary events. It
:04:26. > :04:31.was intended as the central part of a grander scheme.
:04:32. > :04:36.When writing in earnest at his Hereford home Edward Elgar realised
:04:37. > :04:42.his life long ambition to explore the roots of the Christian church
:04:43. > :04:46.demanded a trilogy of oratorios. He started with the apostles and
:04:47. > :04:50.intended to end with The Last Judgement, which he didn't manage to
:04:51. > :04:54.finish. The heart, The Kingdom, remains.
:04:55. > :04:59.The Kingdom has every possible mood you can think of. It has amazement.
:05:00. > :05:13.It has anger. The simplicity of it and the genuine
:05:14. > :05:16.feeling of community and the fact that this binds everybody the
:05:17. > :05:23.together is something I think is the biggest feature of the work.
:05:24. > :05:30.I love the Royal Albert Hall. It is a wonderful place in which to
:05:31. > :05:33.perform pieces on this scale. We have the BBC Symphony Orchestra and
:05:34. > :05:39.Chorus and the BBC National Chorus of Wales. The thrill of that many
:05:40. > :05:44.people, and also in the very still moments, I think - there's nothing
:05:45. > :05:50.as wonderful. If you want to go to a concert and
:05:51. > :05:57.come away being thrilled with the grandeur of it and there are grand
:05:58. > :06:02.moment in this piece, but that is not what it's about ultimately. It
:06:03. > :06:08.has a wonderful sense of why we are here. Always at the end of The
:06:09. > :06:13.Kingdom, I found it difficult to retain the objectivity that a
:06:14. > :06:19.conductor always has to have. I find the piece as touching as
:06:20. > :06:27.anything that Elgar wrote. It is a supreme example of Elgar
:06:28. > :06:36.bearing his most intimate soul to us and that is what really makes this
:06:37. > :06:41.one of his greatest works. Sir Andrew Davis there. Andrew Davis
:06:42. > :06:48.is a leading interpreter of Elgar's music. Earlier this year he received
:06:49. > :06:53.the Elgar Society Medal, to mark his significant contribution to the
:06:54. > :06:55.composer's legacy and that is the leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
:06:56. > :06:56.and Chorus, that composer's legacy and that is the
:06:57. > :07:06.leader of the BBC Symphony is Stephen Bryant.
:07:07. > :07:15.And any minute now, should expect our conductor of the evening to join
:07:16. > :07:23.us. And there he is. Just following on
:07:24. > :07:29.from the soloists. Andrew Davis with Erin Wall, who sings the Blessed
:07:30. > :07:34.Virgin. Catherine Wyn-Rogers who sings Mary Magdalene. Andrew
:07:35. > :07:38.Staples, St John and Christopher Purves, who sings St Peter. There is
:07:39. > :39:13.Andrew Davis. Elgar's The Kingdom.
:39:14. > :39:18.Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC
:39:19. > :39:25.nags BBC National Chorus of Wales and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
:39:26. > :39:32.Clearly moved by the whole experience. As he brings the leader
:39:33. > :39:34.of the orchestra to his feet, warm applause here in the Royal Albert
:39:35. > :39:52.Hall for all 400 performers. APPLAUSE
:39:53. > :40:01.This is Sir Davis's 70th birthday year, during which he's been
:40:02. > :40:09.conducting three of Elgar's great oratorios.
:40:10. > :40:21.Not just conductor laureate of the BBC symphony orchestra, he's chief
:40:22. > :40:37.conductor of the Melbourne sim fon ni Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
:40:38. > :40:43.Elgar conducted the first performance of his work in
:40:44. > :40:49.Birmingham n 1906. The following days the papers reported his
:40:50. > :40:53.emotions were so stirred by his work, that tears were streaming down
:40:54. > :41:00.his face several times during the oratorio. A warm applause now for
:41:01. > :41:08.the soloists. We can see the barrow tone Christopher Purves. Tenor
:41:09. > :41:21.Andrew Staples. And the soprano Erin Wall and
:41:22. > :41:24.mezzo-soprano, Catherine Wyn-Rogers. APPLAUSE
:41:25. > :41:29.#12k3w4r the chorus masters there. -- the chorus masters there. They do
:41:30. > :41:41.so much work. Stephen Jackson and Adrian Partington.
:41:42. > :42:05.And that brings us to the end of the first night of the Proms, 2014. I do
:42:06. > :42:13.hope you have enjoyed it and that you will tune into all the Proms,
:42:14. > :42:18.live on Radio 3, on BBC Four a week today Petroc Trelawny and Danielle
:42:19. > :42:23.de Niese will be here with a concert of Beethovan, Dvorak and Richard
:42:24. > :42:28.Strauss.ly be back on the 26th July and I will review the week's musical
:42:29. > :42:31.events here at the Proms. Do join me for. That for now, as the applause
:42:32. > :42:33.continues here, at the Royal Albert Hall, from all of us, have a very
:42:34. > :43:57.good night. through the clouds for television's
:43:58. > :44:03.most ambitious experiment. With this, we're going to be able
:44:04. > :44:08.to see the weather from the inside.