London music festival ends with equality call

The traditional end to a London summer season of music was celebrated at the Royal Albert Hall with an audience of 6,000 appreciating both words and music presented by American conductor Marin Alsop.

In her speech to the audience Alsop said "It's clear inequality is one of the greatest challenges facing us today."

"Music is not going to solve these issues," Alsop remarked. "But music has the power to change the hearts and minds of even the most hardened dissenter. We've seen that here at the Proms."

Other comments on the world outside classical music also found their way into the Hall with a banner in support of refugees:

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann (photo) sang a selection of Puccini arias, including 'Nessun Dorma' and then became the first German to sing 'Rule Britannia' in the history of the Last Night of the Proms performances.

Ahead of his appearance, Kaufmann had said on local television "I never get nervous...(but) here I would probably say yes, because everyone in the hall and everyone watching at home knows the words better than I do."

British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and the BBC Symphony Orchestra opened the evening program with Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto.

American soprano Danielle de Niese sang songs from the movie 'The Sound of Music' which is marking the 50th anniversary of its release.

It was also the last time that 78-year-old Rolf Seelmann-Eggebert presented the evening for German NDR television. He has commentated on the event for the past 34 years.

The Promenade Concerts developed as a low-cost summer season of musical events at the Albert Hall with a ticket price of just five pounds (6.8 euros) for people happy to stand during the concerts.

jm/bw (Reuters, ARD)