BBC Proms 2014
(BBC2, 8.05pm)

THE largest classical music festival in the world opens this week with Edward Elgar’s Biblical oratorio The Kingdom, a 90-minute performance which should wow classical music fans.

It kicks off eight weeks of diverse and glorious music including Prom 50, on August 26, the perfect showcase for cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s work.

There’s a good bet Julian Lloyd Webber will be paying close attention to Alisa as she performs one of his favourite pieces. “The Dvorak Concerto is always regarded as the king of cello pieces really,”

he explains while promoting new film Dvorak in Love. “It’s the greatest concerto.”

What does one of the world’s greatest cellists think of the state of classical music? “The term ‘classical music’ is becoming less and less relevant, because you’re talking about 500 years of music in all different styles and types,”

he explains. “Since I was in the music profession, it’s changed and I think not necessarily for the worse. There are incredible opportunities for young musicians out there now. People can get their recordings up online for other people to hear; they can put films up. You couldn’t do that when I started.

“People sometimes feel scared of change and say, ‘Oh, the record business is finished’, but it’s not. People are always going to want to hear music, and particularly are always going to want to go to live concerts. That’s something that’s never going to die.”

Back to the Proms, and other highlights this year include a War Horse Prom, commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War; Gabby Logan presents the first BBC Sport Prom, and Proms in the Park promises to be a September 13 showstopper, fronted by Terry Wogan.

That same day, there’s the all-important Proms 76, where promenaders will again revel in the Land of Hope and Glory moments of raising the roof during the last night.

Celebrity MasterChef
(BBC1, 8.30pm)

THREE celebrity chefs remain in the competition, and now that we’ve reached the final, the heat in the kitchen is getting increasingly difficult to stand.

However, we’re not sure that John Torode and Gregg Wallace are really to blame for that. The chefs face their most demanding challenge yet in the restaurant kitchen of Italian chef Francesco Mazzei. He will be guiding them as they produce a meal for Italian cookery experts Antonio Carluccio, Giorgio Locatelli, Theo Randall and Aldo Zilli – rather them than us.

But who has what it takes to succeed last year’s winner, Ade Edmondson?

The Joy of the Guitar Riff
(BBC4, 9pm)

THE latest lovingly-crafted show pays tribute to the hook which has gripped millions of music fans over the years, the good old guitar riff.

Whether you’re usually clapping over Eric Clapton or dying to hear Dire Straits, there’s a little of something for everyone here.

We look back over the past 60 years of popular music, and examine the riff ’s influence. North-East presenter Lauren Laverne narrates the film which features a wealth of stories from Brian May, Dave Davies, Hank Marvin, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp and Johnny Marr.

“The riff is the DNA of rock and roll,”

explains Laverne. “A double helix of repetitive simplicity and fiendish complexity on which the history of rock ‘n’ roll has been built.”