Alder was the night’s star soprano, promising “an uplifting evening” as an antidote to global political turmoil.
She transported audiences to Edwardian London with a cheeky medley of songs from My Fair Lady; and scaled the heights with her rendition of Vilja Song – the nostalgic showpiece of Franz Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow.
“I admire any soprano who has a huge voice but can do internalised, soft singing like that,” observed BBC Radio 3’s Georgia Mann.
“That is the mark of true class.”
The singer embraced the Last Night’s party atmosphere, adopting a cockney accent and flower-sellers costume for Wouldn’t It Be Loverly; and sporting a spectacular union flag ballgown for Rule, Britannia!
The concert ended with the traditional programme of sea shanties and patriotic songs like Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory – as the audience waved flags, set off party poppers and waved stuffed toys.
Bill Bailey reappeared at the end of the concert, playing Auld Lang Syne on the Royal Albert Hall’s famous “voice of Jupiter” organ – but not before bashing out an impromptu version of Europe’s rock classic The Final Countdown.
It gave the season a suitably celebratory and idiosyncratic climax.
This year’s season has totalled 86 concerts featuring everyone from jazz singer Samara Joy to the world’s only one-handed pianist, Nicholas McCarthy.
Highlights included the Vienna Symphony’s superlative performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No 9; and star conductor Klaus Mäkelä, who delivered an astonishingly emotional version of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
There was also a Prom dedicated to the music of The Traitors; another featuring the music of Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann; and crossover concerts with pop star Jade Thirlwall and guitar virtuoso St Vincent.
Almost 290,000 tickets were sold across the season; and millions more tuned into coverage across BBC Radio 3, BBC Sounds and BBC Television.
The festival will return on 17 July 2026, for its 131st season.