Russian music pervades the BBC Proms' fifth week at the Royal Albert, with Russian maestri Valery Gergiev and Mikhail Pletnev appearing. Estonian Arvo Pärt's 75th birthday (actually on the Last Night - 11 September) is also roundly celebrated.
With standing places (only available an hour before each performance) still just £5, the Proms remain the best-value concert series in the world. A summer visit to London without a visit to the Proms is definitely an opportunity missed.
Two London orchestras appear with their Russian music directors:
Prom 40: Sunday 15 August at 6.30pm Mussorgsky arr Rimsky-Korsakov: A Night on the Bare Mountain Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No 1 in A minor with Julia Fischer Scriabin: Rêverie Prokofiev: Symphony No 3 in C minor Vladimir Jurowski returns with his London Philharmonic Orchestra
Prom 41: Monday 16 August at 7.30pm Scriabin: Symphony No 1 in E with mezzo Nadezhda Serdiuk, tenor Sergei Skorokhodov and the London Symphony Chorus Stravinsky: The Firebird (complete) Valery Gergiev returns with his London Symphony Orchestra
Prom 42: Tuesday 17 August at 7pm Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten Britten: Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes Huw Watkins: Violin Concerto (BBC commission, world première) with Alina Ibragimova Shostakovich: Symphony No 5 in D minor Edward Gardner conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra
Prom 43: Tuesday 17 August Late Night at 10.15pm Arvo Pärt: St John Passion David Hill conducts his BBC Singers, organist Iain Farrington, Endymion and soloists Andrew Kennedy (Pilate) and Brindley Sherratt (Jesus) in Pärt's austere yet serene gospel setting
Prom 44: Wednesday 18 August at 7.30pm Beethoven: Overture Coriolan Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Nikolai Lugansky Tchaikovsky: Suite No 3 in G Mikhail Pletnev brings his Russian National Orchestra (20 this year) back to the Proms after a 14-year gap
Prom 45: Thursday 19 August at 7.30pm Mozart: Overture Der Schauspieldirektor Liszt: Piano Concerto No 1 in E flat with Boris Berezovsky Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade James Dillon: La navette (UK première) Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 2 in C minor Little Russian Martyn Brabbins conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a typically varied, not-to-say generous programme
Prom 46: Friday 20 August at 7pm Mosolov: The Iron Foundry Arvo Pärt: Symphony No 4 Los Angeles (UK première) Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his Philharmonia Orchestra in the new Pärt he premièred in Los Angeles last year
Prom 47: Friday 20 August Late Night at 10pm Cage: First Construction (in Metal) Cardew: Bun No 1 (London première) Howard Skempton: Lento Feldman: Piano and Orchestra (London première) with pianist John Tilbury Ilan Volkov makes a welcome return to the Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in this late-night avant garde programme
Prom 48: Saturday 21 August at 7.30pm Wagner: Overture Tannhäser Mahler: Rückert-Lieder with baritone Simon Keenlyside Beethoven: Symphony No 3 in E flat Eroica Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to the Proms, though for the first time with his new orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic
