Last Night of the Proms, Part One BBC Proms

We've got the flags, the outfits, the electric atmosphere and,

Welcome to the Last Night of the Proms 2016!

Tonight is the 75th Prom from the Royal Albert Hall

this summer and we're having a party, all set to a sensational

soundtrack of new music, timeless masterpieces

And there's an all-star cast waiting in the wings.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers

are raring to go under conductor Sakari Oramo and our soloist tonight

is the spectacular Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez.

We have a musical feast ahead of us and it's fusion at its finest -

delicious Italian arias from Rossini and Donizetti,

Russian spices in Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and slices

of Shakespeare from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Jonathan Dove.

And that's just some of what's on the menu tonight.

Then we'll have all the traditional flag-waving fare on BBC One

But first, you might notice that some of our orchestra looks a little

No, we're not in a time warp ? these are the 45 young musicians that make

up the BBC Proms Youth Ensemble who are on stage with some members

of the BBC Symphony Orchestra to premiere a brand new piece

It's called Raze and it's by 25-year-old Scottish composer

Raze by Tom Harrold - our curtain-raiser to the 2016

The BBC Proms Youth Ensemble with members of the BBC

Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.

There is the composer looking very happy with that performance.

16-year-old violinist Lena Segal says, "Raze is thrilling to play;

it is a very loud piece with occasional jazzy moments.

I love playing it, especially with the BBC

Symphony Orchestra musicians, who make us feel as if we are in

Youth now gives way to experience as the BBC Symphony Orchestra take

They're bringing us more British music and from a war hero no less.

George Butterworth was awarded the military cross twice

The Banks of Green Willow is a vision of England in 1913,

the year before war broke out and it's based on two

But now comes the first of our Last Night traditions

when two Promenaders honour the founder of the Proms,

Sir Henry Wood, by placing a chaplet of laurels on the bust

Sir Henry has been looking down on the concerts all season

and tonight he is being honoured by two of our dedicated prommers,

Husband and wife John and Liz met in the Philharmonia Chorus in 1973

and they have both sung at the Proms many times.

The chaplet is firmly placed on the head of Sir Henry. As they polish

his face, as is traditional, I must tell you that Liz first came to the

Proms when she was 14. Her husband John said the couple thought this

season has been particularly excellent. John and Liz, I am glad

you thought so. The chaplet ceremony is just one

of the Last Night traditions I've been rummaging

through the archives to find out more about the event's other weird

and wonderful customs. Sir Henry Wood's programme for the

first Last Night was an immense feat with nearly 30 works, British and

continental ranging from Sir Arthur Sullivan to Richard Wagner. Over the

next half century the programmes were slimmed down but no flags and

bunting just yet. 1947 step forward Sir Malcolm Sergeant. Combined with

the dawn of the age of television it was under his charismatic leadership

that so many of the traditions became firmly enskonsed in the

hearts and minds of the audience and it could be argued spawned an even

more populist spirit. I want to thank you so much, more than half

the concerts were filled from the gods to those whatever you call them

in the lower region. Sergeant or flash Harry, really made the

conductor's speech the showstopper we expect today. I am speaking to my

friends down here. You are the most wonderful audience but I suppose you

have been told that before. This is the very model of a modern music

Festival. Tonight would be different if any one of you were missing so

thank heavens you all showed up. Sorry, it's kind of hot here. A

Proms audience can't just sit back and watch without flexing their

vocal chords. # Land of hope and glory...

Pomp and circumstance. Jerusalem and others hadn't been written when the

Prom began by the 60th season they began to appear together what we now

see as the traditional party pieces to round off the night led by

soloists. Accompanied by an enthusiastic

audience. It's not just in the hall you can

enjoy the Last Night. Since 1996 it has taken the experience around the

nation. We are going to send a special... The Festival continues to

evolve. Who know what is the next Last Night standard will be.

But little define it is more than the Prommers themselves, ready after

a summer of more serious music-making to let their hair down.

And why not! Well, that was then. This is now.

You will be seeing a lot more of those traditions in action later on

this evening. There's a warm welcome

for the leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Stephen Bryant,

on stage for the idyllic The Banks of Green Willow

by George Butterworth. George Butterworth was inspired

to study English folk songs by that towering figure of British music,

Ralph Vaughan Williams, who he met while studying

at Oxford University. We will be hearing music by Williams

later on as well. And Sakari Oramo joins

the full forces of the BBC's Symphony Orchestra for their opener

at the Last Night MUSIC: Butterworth -

The Banks of Green Willow. George Butterworth's The Banks

of Green Willow performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra,

conducted by Sakari Oramo. And we're straight into more music -

from rural England to southern MUSIC: Borodin - Prince Igor,

Polovtsian Dances. Sakari Oramo conducting

the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the BBC Singers

in Borodin's Polovtsian Dances. I think he said perfect at the end.

Certainly the audience here would agree.

The piece was one of Henry Wood's favourites ? he conducted

Polovtsian Dances is from Borodin's opera Prince Igor, which he wrote

over the course of the last 18 years of his life.

Tonight is not only the climax of the Proms 2016,

but also the climax of BBC Music's Get Playing campaign.

You may have been enjoying our amateur orchestra competition

All Together Now on TV and the winning group dazzled

Tune in next Saturday night on BBC Two to see them in action.

At the beginning of the summer, we asked you to join our virtual

orchestra to play Bizet's Toreador Song conducted by Marin Alsop.

And my, you delivered over 1200 of you dusted off your instruments

I've never seen a performance like it with banjos and bagpipes

So, I am delighted to introduce a taste of the BBC's

Just a tantalising bit of the Virtual Orchestra. You can see the

full performance on iPlayer and see it at bbc.co.uk. I urge you to do

that. . Back to tonight's live music

and I suggest you prepare yourselves: one of the greatest

tenors in the world is about to join us and offer up a treasure

chest of operatic riches, starting with a composer

particularly close And here he comes, Peruvian

superstar Juan Diego Florez to perform an aria from La

Cenerentola. There's no glass slipper

in Rossini's adaptation of Cinderella, but Prince Ramiro has

fallen in love with the beautiful Cenerentola

and swears he will find her. Juan Diego Florez pledging his

everlasting love in 'Yes, I swear to find her again',

'Si, ritrovarla io giuro', from Next, Donizetti's

The Elixir of Love. 'Una furtiva lagrima' ?

'A furtive teardrop' ? There's no rest for our star

Juan Diego this evening ? we're moving on to Offenbach's satire

The Beautiful Helene. Here, he is the Trojan prince Paris,

fresh from judging a beauty contest APPLAUSE.

. What an operatic hat trick

from the Peruvian tenor That was On Mount Ida from

Offenbach's The Beautiful Helene. And don't worry, Juan Diego isn't

leaving us for good ? he has to zip out to an al fresco date

in Hyde Park and then he'll be back What a fantastic evening

we're having here at the Royal Albert Hall -

and there's plenty more musical And that's not to mention

everything that has happened For me, it's been

absolutely world-class. We've had bona fide legends from

Daniel Barenboim to Quincy Jones, We've had debuts from musicians

from countries including Uzbekistan, Cameroon and Venezuela

as well as a whopping In this Olympic year,

we've had a spotlight on music Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon

Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop, Gabriela Montero

and the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra I adore this continent and its music

and I've enjoyed every single Latin beat ? and no,

I still can't believe Team GB came second in the Olympic

medal table either! And as the Paralympic Games

continue, we have another sizzling Latin American

number for you later on. And look at all the flags down

there ? it really does feel that the world has come to the hall

for our party here tonight. Next up, a titan of British

music ? Benjamin Britten. When he was growing up,

his mother wanted him to be the fourth 'B'

in a composer line-up of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms

? no pressure then! Sakari is back on stage to conduct

the five movements of Britten's vibrant Matinees musicales,

inspired by Rossini. Britten was born on 22 November ?

that's St Cecilia's day, Both Matinees and Soirees musicales

were used in a ballet called Divertimento,

choreographed by the legendary It was premiered in June 1941

during a South American tour MUSIC: Matinees Musicales

by Benjamin Britten Having such fun there on stage here

at the Royal Albert Hall. Matinees Musicales by

Benjamin Britten performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra

conducted by Sakari Oramo. Such character in his conducting and

in the orchestra's playing. It was written by Britten in his 20s

when he was living in America as a companion piece to his earlier

Soirees musicales. It's true what they say,

time flies when you're enjoying yourself and we're almost

at the halfway point tonight. But we've got a corker to bring

the first part to an end. We've been celebrating Shakespeare

all season to mark 400 years since his death and this

is a striking setting of Prospero's words from The Tempest

written by the British Our soloist is the

British-Australian baritone Duncan Rock who is fast making

a name for himself on stage. Tonight's conductor Sakari Oramo

and our soloist Duncan Rock You might remember him

from the War Horse Prom in 2014. There he is, you know that face!

This is celebrating our Shakespeare season. This is Our Revels Now Are

Ended. # And, like this

insubstantial pageant. # We are such stuff

as dreams are made on, That was originally performed by a

smaller group. He enjoyed performing that with the full forces on stage.

Duncan Rock with the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

all conducted by Sakari Oramo in Jonathan Dove's Our Revels Now

The second part of the Last Night of the Proms begins

He reckons he has clocked up over 420 Proms, as both an audience

fear more showstoppers are still to come, including plenty

Well, we're at the end of the first half of the concert but never

fear more showstoppers are still to come, including plenty

from Juan Diego Florez and all those traditional Last Night favourites.

The second part of the Last Night of the Proms begins

But it's not all about what's happening inside the Royal

Last Night celebrations are happening all across the country

thanks to the Proms in the Park events in Belfast,

Colwyn Bay in Wales, Glasgow and in Hyde Park

here in London and we've cherrypicked some of the best bits

Just a short time ago in Belfast violin virtuoso brothers Vladimir

and Anton Jablokov wowed the crowds with 'Kalinka' by Ivan Larionov.

APPLAUSE. Wonderful stuff in Belfast there.

Sorry about the couple of technical glitches.

And in Colwyn Bay this year's BBC Young Musician of the year,

cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performed Haydn's Cello Concerto in C with

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. Amazing.

In Glasgow, audience were moved by the late composer

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' 'Farewell to Stromness'.

Max, as he was affectionately known, died earlier this year.

Let us see if we can go to Glasgow. Any minute now. Whatever we've got

lined up for you, I'm sure Max will be looking down and enjoying it

because he was held with such affection up in Glasgow. I think we

have it for you right now. APPLAUSE AND

CHEERING Some of the amazing array of events

happening all over the country tonight to celebrate the Last Night

of the Proms. And of course, tonight is the final

night in an extraordinary festival that has spanned two whole months

during which amazing music has bounced off the walls

here at the Royal Albert Hall These are just some

of the highlights from what has been # Doo-wa, doo-wa, doo-wa,

doo-wa, doo-wa! # Friday 23rd of September

on BBC One. And watch the celebrities

take their first steps Don't worry,

I'll be on my best behaviour.