First Night of the Proms - Part 1 BBC Proms

The next eight weeks are crammed with the world's finest

Welcome to a spectacular summer of music.

Whether it's Mozart, Mahler, Bowie, Gershwin or Gospel

which takes your fancy, there's something at the Proms

In 20 minutes or so, the celebrated Argentine cellist

Sol Gabetta makes her Proms debut with Elgar's Cello Concerto.

The cello is in the spotlight at the Proms this year, with no

fewer than ten concertos across the season.

But we open tonight with Tchaikovsky's Romeo

And Juliet overture, in this special year

celebrating the life and work of William Shakespeare.

And as you can see, the BBC Symphony Orchestra is already on the stage.

The atmosphere in the Royal Albert Hall, as always as Leon the first

night, is electric. Here comes the leader of the BBC

Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Bryant. And their chief conductor,

Sakari Oramo, to open La Marseillaise, the French

national anthem - a Proms tribute to those

who lost their lives in Nice. Tchaikovsky's fantasy

overture Romeo And Juliet, performed by the BBC

Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.

It's just one of an extraordinary range of music inspired

by our greatest playwright. And there will be lots more to come

in this year's Proms celebrations to mark 400 years

since Shakespeare's death. Tchaikovsky was a huge admirer

of Shakespeare ? in his letters, he wrote glowingly about the Bard's

work, and even learnt English so he could read the plays

in their original language. Next tonight, Elgar's

Cello Concerto, one of my Elgar completed it at his cottage

in Sussex in the summer of 1919, just months before the death

of his beloved wife, Alice. Don't expect Pomp And Circumstance ?

it's often described as autumnal, written shortly after the horrors

of World War 1 and haunted cellist Sol Gabetta,

by the hugely popular Argentine taking her own distinctive

approach to this music. The intimacy you have in the

concerto is unique. For example, especially in the first movement.

Many times, the cello it is playing almost alone. The Orchestra is

somewhere there, they want to support you but they leave you

alone. If I lose myself, I can just forget

myself and get into the music. I am sure I will have so many strong

emotional moments in this evening of the Proms.

So here comes Sol Gabetta performing at The Proms for the first time ?

she's with the conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Sakari Oramo

to perform Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor.

MUSIC: Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor by Edward Elgar

Thunderous applause here for Sol Gabetta.

Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, played by soloist Sol Gabetta,

with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.

The First Night of the Prom continues at 8.30pm on BBC4 ? do

turn over, we've got Prokofiev's glorious Cantata

And I also think we might be getting an encore!

Join me, Katie Derham, as I don my dancing shoes once again

to take to the floor with the Strictly professionals.