WANDERING around in jeans and clutching a clipboard before the show, she looked every inch efficient ground staff… yet within an hour this vision of helpfulness had transformed herself into the ultimate diva.

Even this was not the end of it. Because before the night was out, Worcestershire-born soprano Elizabeth MacDonald had become Britannia herself, not only ruling the waves but creating some of her own, too.

The Malvern girl with a voice to die for partnered John Hudson, one of Britain’s most powerful tenors in a show that has not only become something of an institution but also a major showcase for the English Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Roberts. He guided the ESO, accompanied by the gifted St Michael’s Singers, through a selection of arias, choruses and orchestral excerpts from some of the world’s greatest and most delightful operas.

As if to anticipate the explosions to come, John and Elizabeth set off fireworks of their own with an angstdrenched version of Maria, but the best was yet to come.

Jerusalem, Land Of Hope And Glory… the field was soon a sea of waving union and St George’s flags. And one might well ask how you could follow that, but it was managed somehow as Bohemian Rhapsody, combined with the aforesaid fireworks rent the warm night air. Truly Malvern’s night of the Proms.