Eoin Colfer; Catherine the Great; loneliness of a soloist

With John Wilson.Author Eoin Colfer reveals the reason that he decided to put an end to the saga of his best-selling hero Artemis Fowl, despite his publisher's wishes.Tonight is the start of the BBC Proms 2012 - but what's it like being a world-class classical soloist? Mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, violinist Maxim Vengerov and trumpeter Alison Balsom reveal some of the pressures they face, and Colin Lawson, director of the Royal College of Music, discusses whether students can be prepared for life on the international stage. To mark the 250th anniversary of the coup d'état which placed Catherine the Great on the Russian throne, the National Museum of Scotland is holding an exhibition exploring how she used artworks to express her power. Dr Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage Museum, explains what the collection tells us about Catherine herself.John revisits Afghan war veterans Rifleman Daniel Shaw and Sapper Lyndon Chatting-Walters, as they prepare to go on tour with Owen Sheers' play The Two Worlds of Charlie F. John first met them in rehearsal, and they now reflect on their stage nerves and their readiness to take to the road. Producer Ellie Bury.