Visiting orchestras and ensembles

For the first time ever, both the Berliner Philharmoniker (pictured) and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra make two appearances each during one season. With Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker performs on consecutive evenings. The first is a programme of Ligeti, Wagner, Sibelius, Debussy and Ravel (30 August), and for the second they are joined by Yefim Bronfman for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, in a programme coupled with Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 3 (31 August).

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Bernard Haitink brings two iconic Austrian works to the Proms: Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, in a concert including Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, performed by Murray Perahia (6 September) and Richard Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony in a performance with Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 London (7 September).

Other visiting European orchestras include the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, which performs two concerts in the final week of the season with Riccardo Chailly (1 & 2 September), and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester under Daniele Gatti (26 August).

From the USA, the Juilliard Orchestra joins students from the Royal Academy of Music under John Adams in a programme featuring his City Noir (16 July) and the St Louis Symphony makes its Proms debut, joined by violinist Christian Tetzlaff for the Beethoven Concerto, conducted by David Robertson (4 September).

For the first time in Proms history, a Brazilian orchestra will be making the journey to South Kensington: the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra with its Chief Conductor, Marin Alsop (15 August). Brazil is the next Olympic host nation for the 2016 Games.

International ensembles include Le Concert Spirituel in a free Late Night all-Handel Prom (18 July), the Kronos Quartet (24 July), L’Arpeggiata (30 July) and the Escher Quartet (20 August), all of which make their Proms debuts.