Prom 74: Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Albert Hall

Music was pouring out of the great Austrian composers in the 18th and 19th century, but Vienna had no permanent orchestra to perform it until 1842, with the founding of today’s Vienna Philharmonic.

Now one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world, it pays two visits to the 2017 BBC Proms. You can also catch it at Prom 72, playing Mahler’s Symphony No 6 (7 Sept). But at this second appearance, the music of three generations of great composers, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, should show this immaculate ensemble at its best.

The charistmatic American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Brahms’s quicksilver Variations on the St Anthony Chorale, and then the veteran American pianist Emanuel Ax joins the platform for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 14. Written in 1784, on first listening it flows effortlessly and engagingly, but on closer analysis it reveals increasing complexities of composition that Mozart would develop further and further during his prodigious output until his death seven years later.

This being the Vienna Phil, you can be pretty sure of an encore, and no one would be surprised if that comes in the form of some irresistible dance.