Last Night of the Proms

Proms on TV, 2026
Last Night of the Proms
Royal Albert Hall

Once again, we have made it to the Last Night. Or, at least some us have. I have still got about three Proms outstanding on iPlayer, and I am watching this one the night after it is broadcast, because on Saturday evening I was doing some rock-and-rolling with the new band I am in.

It is early Sunday evening, and it is still light outside. I am conscious that there are over three hours worth of the Last Night coverage to watch, so I start early. It has been a warm and sunny mid-September day, and I have fortunately had time to Ronseal my front fence, and creocote (with a c), the back gate, afore the autumn conditions turn inclement.

Of course, this time last year I had all the excitement of attending the Last Night in person, after spending eight weeks of the summer blogging every one of them - so the 2026 Last Night was never quite going to live up to that. I did have planned a night in with the UK and EU flags (which I have still got from last year), but it didn't quite work out.

A decent effort though; a good seven out of ten. The first music to catch me is the Keltic Suite Lament, because I am actually in a lamenting mood right now - another reason why I was not best placed to be watching this on Saturday. As ever, my own lament carries the subject of romantic rejection. This summer - amidst the Proms - the doors of romance were looking like they might just open for me. After a seven-week courtship (my new PB), I received the omnipresent 'you're a nice guy, but...'. Being dumped stings at the best of times, but for it to happen on the afternoon of the Last Night of the Proms seems like a cruel twist. [She wasn't to know.]

I digress. The first half introduces us to 'superstar' pianist, Yuja Wang. 'FFS, not another Asian piano prodigy,' I think to myself. 'All we need now is another "urgent" socially-commentative premiere that will never see the light of day again.'
    But my misgivings were premature. She does do a sterling job of Barber's Piano Concerto, and later on I am really taken with her work on Alexander Tsfasman's Suite for Piano and Orchestra - it's a jazz suite, and Nick Mohammed is quite right to suggest that it has echoes of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. It does, and that's a fine thing.

The Dolly Parton medley is apposite. Haven't we all loved and lost, this summer? Sheridan Smith can't seem to shake off the dulcet tones of Cilla Black, but her effort was sincere.

Holst's Jupiter is obligatory, but I am not complaining. There is a premiere from Anne Dudley, whose music I really like. She was being interviewed on the radio earlier in the season, which I enjoyed listening to. As a toddler I used to jive to the rhythm of Jeeves and Wooster, so I'm told. Probably true, as I am still prone to jive to it today.

Scotch Snap brings us some comic relief, and Nicky Spence is our ever-returning jester throughout the evening. Sometimes he turns serious, though, boasting out a hearty Rule Britannia for us.

Cue the Last Night roster of Auld Lang Syne and the National Anthem &tc &tc.

The rest, as they say, is history; and to spout Tennyson: It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.