Prom 59 Life Story and a legend: an afternoon with Sir David Attenborough

The greatest adventure is life itself. It is one that will never cease to astonish and to fascinate with the beauty of its simple, most humble tales. Some of those have been chosen for our journey through this Life Story Prom, revealing the trials and tribulations individual animals face in different stages of their lives, and nobody shares and embodies the enthusiasm for the discovery of our planet like Sir David Attenborough.

Whether he is standing right on the equator or flying above a canyon in a helicopter, it is his voice that has been showing thousands of us the miracles that happen every second on this planet. His is the face of the natural history television series and, like a legend, he is greeted in the Royal Albert Hall with cheers and standing ovations. As he speaks, it is with the familiar distinct, good-natured calm and, even now, amazement in the face of the wonders of the world. Just like on television, his presentation is spellbinding, and when your glance is not captured by the breathtaking pictures shown on several screens around the Royal Albert Hall, it travels onto Sir David on the stage, where it feels as if he is speaking directly to you in the intimacy of your own living room.

Settled comfortably in a leather armchair, he sits and watches nature's spectacles with you and gets the best close-up shots of the BBC Concert Orchestra under the baton of Jeremy Holland-Smith, caught in its natural habitat. Standing at the back of the flock, you can spot a large group of percussionists enjoying the rousing music Murray Gold composed. And what multi-faceted music it is! From avant-garde sounds to underline a mantis' birth and first struggle for survival to martial, drum and brass-dominated music to accompany the cobra that thought it had found easy prey in a single meerkat, yet suddenly sees itself face to face with an army of their snub-noses, this music shows Gold's great versatility.

Gold's ability to write in such a variety of different styles is rounded by his focus for "the huge amount of comedy in the natural world," as he reveals in conversation with Sir David, and it is obvious that this comedy provides a constant inspiration for him. With a rhythmical, catchy motif, he illustrates the escape of an octopus from a predator; a heavy-footed polka accompanies the mating dance of a grouse, causing much amusement in the Hall. But he also captures the gentler feelings: a lyrical, Italianate love theme is played to the pictures of a "tiny puffer fish smooching at the bottom of the sea," and the elegy that sounds around the scene of a herd of elephants gently feeling the skeleton of an ancestor with the tips of their trunks evokes huge emotions. A cynic may sniff at this music's enormous, at times almost kitsch emotional charge, at its underlying anthropomorphism and Mickey Mousing. But if you allow yourself to be more child, analyse less and enjoy more, Gold's music is a magnificent companion to the Natural History Unit's unique pictures.

As in real life, the things we take for granted, those that appear the simplest, are often still the most important. In this Prom, it is difficult not to look at the screens, not to be entirely spellbound by Sir David's charisma, but to actively focus on the orchestra that carries us from the sea-beaten rocks of the Galapagos Islands to a fur seals' swimming pool in New Zealand and on to a pack of Zambian hunting dogs. In the beginning, there is the minutest difference in intonation, a strange trace of imbalance. But then the musicians charm, frolic, colour, let rip; their conductor's movements are simple and precise, the majority of the cues spot on.

It is, in short, a feast for the eyes and ears. It is a combination of sound, visual and education extremely well done, inviting on stage both the composer and the producer to give the audience an intriguing peek behind the scenes of the famous series. As somebody who has not grown up with Attenborough's series, it may be less obvious to understand others' enthusiasm, but seeing their heartfelt admiration for this great figure was truly moving. Together, presenter and musicians offer an afternoon of great entertainment and particularly Sir David radiates contagious excitement at the things we are yet to discover. There is so much more than we can imagine.