Last blast at the Proms

"It was only a rehearsal. I was in London on a choir course and we were taken as a special outing. It was totally inspiring. Growing up in Manchester, that was the closest I came to the Albert Hall until much later when I was a student. I relied on Radio 3 instead."

Several decades on, as controller of the series of concerts widely dubbed "the greatest musical festival in the world", Kenyon has chosen this work - played by Paul Watkins - to open his final season at the helm.

In the autumn he takes over from Sir John Tusa at the Barbican. Last week his own successor was named: another urbane and sparkily humorous Mancunian from within the BBC, Roger Wright, who will combine the post with his current job of running Radio 3.

Kenyon's final Proms, announced today, has all the makings of a vintage year. As ever, the facts and figures are mind-boggling: there are 90 concerts, 270,000 tickets for sale at under £20, 300 hours of live broadcasting, 309 works, a dozen new commissions and a host of eccentricities old and new.

Beethoven's Ninth gets two performances, including one on the first night. Why? "It's a mainstay of the Proms, the only work apart from the Last Night favourites which is performed every year. Except last year we had a fire and the concert was cancelled. So I thought, why not twice this year to make up?"

In addition to the expected anniversary themes - Elgar, Sibelius and music inspired by Shakespeare - Kenyon has continued his habit of reaching out beyond the narrowly classical to musicians such as Asian musical polymath Nitin Sawhney and the first couple of jazz, John Dankworth and Cleo Laine.

Kenyon's predecessor, the flamboyant showman John Drummond, who died last year, made a habit at the annual press conference of reciting virtually the whole season in one breathless monologue, without notes. Kenyon's style, equally impressive, has always been more relaxed and cheerful.

A former journalist, who moved from the New Yorker to be music critic of The Observer, he has preferred collaboration to confrontation. Though a scholar and musician himself, he is also realistic. Under his reign we have witnessed the explosion, in audience terms, of Proms in the Park, the Blue Peter Proms and a string of attendant popular events.

"I'm an enthusiast. We've been able to increase TV coverage and do nationwide link-ups, but this is thanks to new technology as much as anything I personally feel about inclusivity. That's been fantastic for involving new listeners."

When he took over the Proms, the Three Tenors were at their height and the birth of Classic FM had broken the purists' stranglehold. "What's happened to classical music in the past 20 years, and especially in the past 10, is that it's come out of its box.

"The idea that there's a classical audience that will listen to nothing else has been blown apart. In a sense that makes it harder than ever to market the Proms - they've become so diverse, yet it's also led to an incredible richness of repertoire."

Deciding why he feels comfortable including Michael Ball in the Proms, "but not, say, Oasis or U2", is a matter of observation and instinct. "You can't be scientific. These things change subtly over the years. I include many things my predecessors would never have considered."

Yet the Proms' centre of gravity remains, as ever, the core repertoire, especially those works that suit the peculiar, often thrilling, sometimes hopeless characteristics of its chief venue.

"The Albert Hall is uniquely suited to big, communal experiences, whether choral or orchestral. Much of the time that means big 19th-century works: a Mahler symphony, or the Berlioz Requiem, or, as this year, Elgar's The Apostles."

He admits to few regrets. As a former editor of the journal Early Music, he might have liked to programme more from the Renaissance and Baroque.

"Such music works well in Late Night concerts, where the audiences tend to be smaller and the pure sound of Lassus or Bach can work brilliantly, but would be lost in front of a capacity crowd of 6,000."

A highlight this season is a long-lost 60-part Mass by Striggio, being given its first modern performance with Tallis's Spem in Alium, also for 40 parts. "This is probably one of the things I'm most excited about. It's an extraordinary work."

More than any controller in recent years, Kenyon has had to deal with world crises: "Princess Diana's death, with the mourners gathering just across the road in Kensington Palace, was a major challenge. The Proms have to reflect what's going on. By chance we had a Verdi Requiem scheduled, which turned out to be a memorial to the conductor Sir Georg Solti, who died the same week."

Then, four years later came 9/11. "The BBC Symphony Orchestra was about to start rehearsing the Last Night jollities, taking place five days later. We cancelled the whole programme and decided instead to do the finale of Beethoven's Ninth and Barber's Adagio. Needless to say a few people suggested - rather cynically, I thought - that this was a perfect excuse to end the Last Night jollities once and for all. I refused." Does he enjoy himself? "I adore it. But I'm even happier when it's all over!"

This season the Proms will also be marking the 80th anniversary since the BBC took over running the Proms, set up by Robert Newman and Henry Wood in 1895.

Remarkably, the entire season still only costs the Corporation around £5 million, and prommers' tickets (purchased on the day, to stand in the Arena) are still only £5. "Try making a list of what else you can get in London for that price. A couple of cups of coffee ...?"

In his new job, with theatre and visual arts as well as music, his horizons will be broader. But at a time of stringent cuts and no licence-fee cushioning, life will be harder. As ever Kenyon is optimistic, and refuses to join fellow arts leaders protesting this week about Olympic spending.

"This may surprise you. I'm a total fan of the Olympics. This is a huge opportunity. Look at it this way. Culture is non-competitive. It enables people to do things together. That's been my outlook at the Proms and the results with Proms in the Park and so on have been astonishing. I honestly believe the money will follow the Olympic enterprise."

Any specific Barbican plans he can reveal? Kenyon guffaws. "OK, here's one. For the first time in a dozen years, I will be able to take a summer holiday!"

The BBC Proms 2007 Guide is on sale now. Season begins 13 July. Priority booking is open now at www.bbc.co.uk/proms.