Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

A symphony of iron and steel: that’s how Sergei Prokofiev described his Second Symphony, and it’s right on the nail – this is music from the machine age, forged in the furnace of revolution. For an artist as adventurous as LPO Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski, it’s an irresistible challenge, as well as a gripping counterpart to Ukrainian composer Anna Korsun’s all-too-contemporary study of an industrial landscape shattered by war. Expect nature music with a serious bite – but poetry, too, as pianist Anna Vinnitskaya embraces both the danger and the romance of Rachmaninov’s glittering Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.