Russian diva Anna Netrebko, flirting outrageously with 90,000 people in the Albert Hall and on big screens around the country, brought sex to the Last Night of the Proms, usually an erogenous free zone. Violinist Joshua Bell provided exquisite poetry, and the Prommers as usual came with teddy bears, blowup bananas, rattles and other strange habits. The best way to avoid embarrassment at this maligned but cheerful end-of-term bash is to join in.

Before the partying, we had patriotic Elgar (The Spirit of England), Dvorak's justly forgotten Othello overture and a cornucopia of short works including Léhar's "My Lips Kiss with Such Fire" from Miss Netrebko.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra's distinguished chief conductor Jiri Belohlavek, L-plate attached to his podium, delivered his debut Last Night speech with simplicity and winning charm. The orchestra and BBC Chorus ended their season in high spirits, professionalism never wavering. The cellist who continued playing, unfazed, while the siren Netrebko draped herself around him must have taken tuition from Odysseus.

This has been a recordbreaking year, with countless highlights and a profusion of works by living composers. All this is down to Nicholas Kenyon, now off to the Barbican, who has overseen a period of renewal and innovation with courage and élan as well as unassuming good humour. He took a quick, modest farewell bow, refusing to steal the show from the musicians and an exuberant but blessedly unhysterical audience.

Nostradamus might have had something to say about the weird concatenation of highly emotional events which have occurred during Kenyon's Proms: the death of a princess, 9/11 and now the passing of Pavarotti. Kenyon has handled each with deftness and sensitivity, showing that in times of trouble, and of joy, classical music can unite. With flags now furled and party trumpets put away it must surely be time for a gong.