Already known and summed up in the panel on the right is a simplified, radical drop in ticket prices.

Read more: Radical dropin prices

Details of what it is hoped will get more people through the door, the concerts themselves, are announced at tonight's concert in the present series and, as last year, the Telegraph has a sneak preview.

Read more: At a glance: your guide to the Sheffield International Concert Season

Symphonies such as Beethoven's Choral, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique, Dvorák's New World, Brahms' First, Mendelssohn's Third and Fourth, Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto indicate programming designed to be as attractive as ticket prices.

Visiting musicians show no reduction in quality but the number of concerts is cut, subscription concerts slightly from 16 to 14, while extras are limited to one.

With the Northern Chamber Orchestra involved in the extra – the popular annual Christmas concert from the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, who appear at five concerts – Manchester-based orchestras carry the season.

The Hallé give seven concerts, the Manchester Camerata two, both conducted by their music director Douglas Boyd, a rare visitor to the City Hall, and the BBC Philharmonic one, the opening concert of the season on September 27, which takes in Beethoven's Choral Symphony.

The orchestra's music director Gianandrea Noseda also finds his way to Sheffield to conduct it, four starry soloists, the Philharmonic Chorus and the concert's other work, Liszt's Dante Symphony, a musical depiction, minus Paradise, of The Divine Comedy.

The Manchester Camerata, doubtless with newly-appointed principal flautist, Ensemble 360's Guy Eshed, in tow, also offer Beethoven on November 28, his First Symphony and First Piano Concerto with John Lill as soloist.

Haydn is heard first, his Symphony No 22 – the Philosopher, and exclusively in the Camerata's second concert on May 29, the eve of the composer's death on May 30, 1809.

To mark it, two symphonies, No 104 – the Drum Roll, and No 60 – Il Distratto (usually translated as The Distraught Man), plus the Nelson Mass get performances, the latter with the Philharmonic Chorus.

As well as the bicentenary of Haydn's death, 2009 sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mendelssohn (on February 3) who also gets special treatment in the season – the shade of Vaughan Williams can feel aggrieved with the 50th anniversary of his death this year having being ignored.

The Hallé have two of the three concerts featuring Mendelssohn, the first on March 6 being a Philharmonic Chorus performance of Elijah conducted by Nicholas Kraemer with four noted soloists, Janice Watson, Susan Bickley, Andrew Kennedy and, an old friend, Roderick Williams as the prophet.

Mark Elder's second concert in the season with the Hallé on May 22 sees Mendelssohn's Fourth – the Italian, and Fifth – the Reformation, symphonies separated by Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto with another well-known returnee, Howard Shelley, as soloist.


A third Beethoven piano concerto, No 4, is sandwiched between two other Mendelssohn works, Fingal's Cave (Hebrides) Overture and Third Symphony – Scottish (Scotch as he entitled it), by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra on March 13.

The orchestra's celebrated principal conductor Lothar Zagrosek wields the baton and the pianist is Natasha Paremski, a 21-year-old Russian who is said to be astonishing.

Further Haydn is heard when the European Union Chamber Orchestra, led by the excellent Eva Stegeman, play his Symphony No 28 and are joined by Pieter Wispelwey for the composer's Cello Concerto in D.

The brilliant Dutch cellist, here five years ago playing Walton with the Hallé, also plays James MacMillan's Good Friday meditation Kiss on the Wood in an arrangement for him and the EUCO by the composer.

Tchaikovsky's Serenade for strings completes the concert, the composer's popular Violin Concerto being part of Mark Elder's first concert with the Hallé on February 6.

After her Sibelius with orchestra two years ago, Alina Pogotskina returns to play it, the performance being framed by Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No 1 and Nielsen's Fifth Symphony, beligerent side drum and all, while two other major Tchaikovsky works crop up in Hallé concerts.

Rory MacDonald is the conductor when Alicia Weilerstein is the soloist in the Rococo Variations on February 20, the concert also taking in Stravinsky's Fairy's Kiss Divertimento and two Dvorák works, his New World Symphony and the lesser-known Silent Woods.

The fifth movement of a work for piano duet, From the Bohemian Forest, it took on regular independent life with cellists when the composer arranged it for the instrument and piano – later, with orchestra.

Another hugely popular symphony, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique, is heard when Hans Graf conducts the orchestra on October 17, Martin Helmschen being the soloist in Mozart's K450 piano concerto (No 15) and Brahms' Tragic Overture also performed elsewhere.

Brahms – Symphony No 1, and Mozart – Clarinet Concerto, are in a Hallé concert conducted by Cristian Mandeal on November 7.

The orchestra's one-time excellent principal clarinet Lynsey Marsh is the soloist and Sarka from Smetana's Ma Vlast gets an airing.

There is a Hallé contribution to the season's Haydn offerings on April 24 when the in-demand Arild Remmereit is the conductor for his Sinfonia Concertante in B flat with four orchestra soloists, plus Franck's Symphony in D and Schubert's No 5.

The Philharmonic Chorus' fifth and remaining concert in the season on November 1 is with locally-based Harlequin Brass and takes in two Bruckner pieces, Ecco Sacerdos and Ave Maria, choral and brass music by Gabrieli and John Rutter's Gloria setting.

Leaving one concert and Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto which is played by the outstanding Freddy Kempf with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra on October 24.

Yuri Simonov returns to conduct it and performances of a suite he has cobbled from Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus (which provided the popular theme tune for TV's Onedin Line in the 1980s) and Rimsky-Korsakov's tone poem Sadko Op 5.