In a slightly disappointing end to the festival, short pieces and long pauses failed to live up to much of the wonder of the previous eight weeks.

Another helping of Shakespeare, in this otherwise rather Eastern European-themed Prom. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales was guided through the evening’s events by Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martín, who seemed to relish every moment of his appearance on the Royal Albert Hall stage, and brought the best out of the ensemble because of it. This lent a distinctly theatrical feel to the whole event, the first two pieces complementing Romeo and Juliet to great effect.

“What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” More often than not, when Shakespeare is adapted into different formats, the text is largely lost but the story remains - not so in this case. Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears opted to go without a librettist, instead taking Shakespeare’s words and shuffling parts of the play about a bit. It certainly makes sense that work from such a lyrical playwright could be directly transformed into song, and by and large it feels like quite a natural transition.

The climax to the Proms' Choral Day could only be George Frideric Handel's majestic Messiah. This 1789 arrangement by Mozart was performed by The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, joined by an incredible six (yes six) choirs, conducted by an ebullient John Butt.

There were no phone screens, no sotto voce conversations, no fidgeting, as a packed Hall watched the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in rapt appreciation. Each instrument had its moment. The dual harps added a cool clarity, the double basses a morose touch, the trombones a sweet elegance. This was a vibrant reading of a modern classic in expert hands.

“Can you tell me what it is, this capacity for emotion, this force of suffering that is wearing me out?” The focal point of Prom 58 was Hector Berlioz’s 49-minute “Episode in the Life of an Artist”, his Symphonie fantastique; written while he was still in his twenties and at the mercy of his infatuation with Harriet Smithson (who he had seen play Ophelia in Hamlet), it is a colourful and evocative tour de force. It’s also a piece that the Orchestre de Paris knows inside out.

With soloists Leonidas Kavakos, Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma on violin, piano and cello respectively coming together to form a mighty trio of classical musicians, audiences are in for a treat, regardless of what is being played. Indeed, I found myself thinking that the musicians could have just performed scales and I would have been left satisfied.

“Never seen a TARDIS before?” For many in attendance at the Royal Albert Hall, this probably is quite likely! The Proms haven’t had any adventures in time and space since Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations back in 2013, so its return was well overdue - especially as there have been several incarnations of the Doctor in that time. With the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the London Philharmonic Choir on hand, a spectacular showcase of the programme’s music was guaranteed.

If anyone were to worry about the future of classical music, Prom 46 would surely reassure them that we are in good hands. Students from the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra came together for an incredibly powerful and accomplished programme.

Since 2005, Aurora Orchestra have been performing classical pieces from memory with no score and free movement around the stage. Their passion for their craft is wonderful, and extends to all those who are lucky enough to see them work. This was an inclusive and accessible Prom, vibrant and vivacious.

With the inclusion of several beloved all-time classics and an exceptional new cello concerto by Spanish composer Francisco Coll, the 38th 2024 BBC Prom marks a tremendous success for conductor Tianyi Lu.

Two giants of the jazz world and one composer who has had vast influence on modern music made up a mixed, but interesting, evening at the BBC Prom 35 in the ever-majestic Royal Albert Hall.

Robert Ames leads a superb performance from the London Contemporary Orchestra.

There has always been much conjecture over what it really means to be British – most recently, a group of self-proclaimed “patriots” got together and trashed libraries, independent businesses, and community hubs across the country in the name of supposedly getting their country back. This, of course, isn't patriotism at all. Something that is often held up as a paragon of Britishness, however, is the Proms season; outside of the famous Last Night, this year's Prom 33 may end up being the most quintessentially British of the lot.

What is there to be said about the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra that hasn’t already been said? For twenty-five years it has united Arab and Israeli musicians under the baton of Jewish co-founder Daniel Barenboim (late Palestinian Critical Theorist Edward Said is the other co-founder); their declaration of unity and of humanity, in the face of growing darkness echoes disarmingly loudly as they return to the Royal Albert Hall with a sensuous romantic double bill of Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 9.

During the Restoration and beyond, there were numerous attempts at rewriting Shakespeare - one famous example being Romeo and Juliet changing to a happy ending. His work has also been adapted for slightly different kinds of staging, which is evident in Henry Purcell’s operatic composition; The Fairy Queen is in fact a musical and slightly alternative view of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ahead of Prom 68 (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Les Arts Florissants and Compagnie Käfig combined to present their interpretation of Purcell’s piece, with Paul Agnew conducting.

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have rightly earned a reputation for holding audiences rapt with their vivid realisations of music. Last night, you could have heard a pin drop in the majestic Royal Albert Hall, as they returned to The Proms for a victorious fourth consecutive appearance, celebrating American classics.

Auntie had no need to be worried. For Smith's only UK appearance of 2024, they were joined the BBC Concert Orchestra and the LJ Singers for an excellent (and very professional) evening, celebrating Smith as a singer, rather than a controversialist.

A lively, varied and yes, sassy night celebrating a groundbreaking artist. If only a few of the audience headed off to listen to Vaughan's original recordings, that is a bonus. As Sarah Vaughan 'married operatic grandeur with the coolness of jazz', so this concert digs deep to showcase her range, personality, and love of life.

“I believe in nothing.” Listening to Verdi’s Requiem would certainly suggest otherwise, its 85-minute journey from “Introit and Kyrie” and “Dies irae” - via “Offertory”, “Sanctus”, “Agnus Dei” and “Lux aeterna” - to “Libera me” explores a wealth of emotions, and is rooted in spirituality.

Never to shy away from embracing new genres, BBC Proms introduced its first ever Disco Prom at a glitter ball-bedecked Royal Albert Hall. Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco was a heady mix of infectious grooves, slick vocals and dynamic floor-fillers that shook the venue to its very foundations.

Unlike the Last Night of the Proms, which has developed its own mythology and status (thanks to the traditions that surround it), the First Night of the Proms is not bound by any particular structure or the need to play any specific pieces; there’s a freedom to it that spills out into the audience, eager for the new season to get underway.

The 2022 BBC Proms celebrates a homecoming of large-scale orchestral repertoire to the Royal Albert Hall. This year's festival will feature a programme of a scale not heard at the Proms since 2019: the symphonic music of our past responding vividly to the moment, from Verdi's Requiem on the First Night of the Proms, to Mahler's Second Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony performed by the Chineke! Orchestra and Chineke! Voices under Kevin John Edusei.

In the year that the Proms turns 125 years old, the 2020 season brings the spirit of the Proms to music-lovers at home. BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four broadcasts treasures from the past 30 years of the Proms across six weeks, before two weeks of incredible live performances at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Last Night of the Proms is the culmination of the world's biggest musical festival. It's less a concert, more a cultural experience. The Royal Albert Hall is transformed with flags, banners, balloons and a tangible party atmosphere. The occasional glimpse of an inflatable flamingo or helium parrot just added to the evening's charm and eccentricity.