Richard Baker describes the scene at the Royal Albert Hall where the Centenary Season ends with members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Singers all on stage under the baton of Andrew Davis. Two fine British stars, the mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers and violinist Tasmin Little make their Last Night debuts.
Tonight's concert begins with the Berlioz overture The Corsair, followed by Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending. The other works in the first half are Zemlinsky's Psalm 23, songs from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Waltz Sequence No 1 from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.
Part 2 of the Last Night can be seen on BBC 1 at 9.15pm.
See today's choices.
Director Rodney Greenberg
Simultaneous Broadcast: with Radio 3
See This Week: page 55
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Subsequent programmes may run late