Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, Op.18

A night to remember: an exciting Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 2 from Gryaznov and a passionate Brahms Symphony no. 1.

Chinese-American pianist George Li is now all of 22 years old, and continues to accumulate awards for his remarkable playing, but could he find anything interesting to say about this particular warhorse? 

I suspect that we seek out many of the world’s great soloists beacuse we know what we will get, but we might well seek out Buniatishvili because we don’t.

Vivid playing thrills at the Proms, but fell short of engrossing storytelling.

Denis Kozhukhin provided flowing intensity in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto while Yuri Temirkanov crafted a polished Shostakovich 5 with the Philharmonia.

An earthy – if slow – Pictures at an Exhibition from Yuri Simonov and the Moscow Philharmonic in Basingstoke is like a musical step back in time. 

Stravinsky and Arvo Pärt’s modernism trumps Rachmaninov’s romanticism with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. 

Lahav Shani leads a lavish All-Russian affair that took a while to gel on its third outing in a week in Manchester.

Finnish pianist Juhani Lagerspetz impresses in Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. 

Steven Osborne consults the audience on the choice of encore following a fine performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no. 2, part of an all Russian programme which the CBSO played with zealous committment.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasiliy Petrenko make a guest visit to Sage Gateshead, bringing their contributions by Ravel and Rachmaninov to this year's concert theme of Dance.

Vasily Petrenko conducted the Oslo Philharmonic in a magnificent evening of Grieg, Mahler and Rachmaninov with Simon Trpčeski

Robert Spano, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and soloists perfrom Shostakovich's Symphony no. 14. 

Neither Rachmaninov's music nor the precision and perfection of the performance lose any of their power, vigor, brilliance and magic with a change from the traditional concert perspective.

I’m not sure where Sinbad was sailing to in the St Petersburg Philharmonic’s Prom last night, but he sure wanted to get there in a hurry. A frenetic – and thrilling – performance of Scheherazade displayed great impetuosity. 

Erratic tempi and unclear textures marr an otherwise engaging opportunity to hear a rarer Rachmaninov work alongside his evervescent Piano Concerto no. 2.

Fluttering fingers and jabbing a toothpick baton, it’s difficult see how an orchestra can follow the beat – any beat – indicated by Valery Gergiev. 

In an uneven concert, Alexander Gavrylyuk outshone everyone with his part in Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, casting a shadow over a fragmented RCO led by Michael Schønwandt in Sibelius and Nielsen.

Have you ever felt a sense of elation at the end of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony? In many ways, I find the Fifth as intensely painful and autobiographical as the “Pathétique”, with the finale seeing the composer nobly ‘putting on a brave face’, accepting fate’s hand stoically. The last pages often play through a mist of tears, the triumphant march ringing helplessly hollow. Not so here. 

In Prague, the Mariinsky Maestro transforms the Czech Philharmonic and leaves the audience wondering if his soloist upstaged him. 

Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia received the largest ovation I have seen for a visiting orchestra in Manchester, delighting the Bridgewater Hall with works by Sibelius, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.

On Friday 4 October at the Maison Symphonique in Montreal, Show One Productions in association with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal presented the visiting Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra of St Petersburg conducted by its music director for the last 25 years, Valery Gergiev.

All was set for the Berkeley Symphony to launch its new season, the fifth under the direction of Joana Carneiro, when a moment of panic, no doubt, rattled the front office. Due to a medical condition that temporarily prevented air travel, Carneiro would be unable to reach Berkeley in time to lead on 3 October.

A world première, a blind pianist and a timpani showdown – Prom 6, with the BBC Philharmonic and their chief conductor Juanjo Mena, was not lacking in content. The three big works commenced with David Matthews’ A Vision of the Sea, which was commissioned by the BBC for this Prom.

It can be a strange experience to listen to Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no. 2 without the visuals of Celia Johnson’s doe-eyed sadness and Trevor Howard’s tortured half-smile to go with it, so synonymous is the work with Brief Encounter, Noël Coward’s celebrated paean to 1940s English morality and thwarted love.

The contention that black and white are not colours felt doubtful upon seeing the customary RSNO white tie and black tails reversed; the truly colourful array of dresses offsetting white tuxedos allowed one to see, more easily than usual, the gender balance of the RSNO – which, in this Valentine’s concert, seemed about 50–50.

Spaniard Pablo Gonzalez made his second appearance with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in an all-Russian programme of mixed success, pairing a slightly routine Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto with a thrilling account of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.Gonzalez and soloist H.J.

Severance Hall was full on Saturday evening for the Cleveland Orchestra debut of one of the hottest young conductors on the scene today: Robin Ticciati. Not yet 30, Mr Ticciati is conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Music Director-designate at Glyndebourne.

I’d been assured from friends who knew I was attending this concert that the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra is the finest amateur orchestra in Bristol and I was in for a treat. Despite the recommendation, I did not expect them to be one of the best amateur orchestras I’ve ever heard. The sound they produced under Ewa Strusinska’s baton belied their status as amateur.

The JeugdOrkest Nederland (Netherlands Youth Orchestra) have musicians ranging in age from 14 to 20, yet the artistic quality of their members is impressive. Tonight’s program seemed perfectly suited to their sensibilities; from Kyriakides’ complex and challenging Nerve, to the beautiful melodies and catchy rhythms of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto no.

It’s a fairly poor show that I hadn’t been to a Prom in years. Since it is all online and on the radio, there is the tendency to stay home and listen – but this concert was a reminder of quite how worthwhile it is to attend concerts in person. The power of live musical performance was exemplified by this varied programme, performed in a most varied and adaptive way.

Bell’s Whisky used to be almost synonymous with Perth, and anyone who lives in Perth and Kinross will have been touched by the generosity of A.K. Bell’s Gannochy Trust, started 75 years ago. Early projects included sewerage systems to improve the quality of the river Tay, and setting up the Gannochy Housing Estate.

For a description of Elisabeth Leonskaja’s formidable and eloquent pianism I find myself drawn to the opening bars of Rachmaninov’s G sharp minor Prelude, given in this concert as an encore.

As I listened to the opening work in the Philharmonia Orchestra’s concert on Tuesday night, I couldn’t help thinking that Sibelius’ tone poem Night Ride and Sunrise is the musical equivalent of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night.

The Italian conductor Fabio Luisi has become an increasingly familiar and welcome face to New York audiences. Recently appointed Principal Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, he is primarily known here as an operatic conductor.

Following his successful UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic last December in Stoke-on-Trent, the 22-year-old Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii made a widely-anticipated appearance at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester to a sold-out crowd.

I had high expectations for the evening after being very impressed with an MSSO performance I had seen as a teenager. The first piece on the programme was the Polovtsian Dances from Borodin’s opera, Prince Igor. The performance highlighted both the playful and brutal elements of the piece which made for an exciting performance.

Lisitsa es un fenómeno de masas que debe gran parte de su éxito no sólo a su talento y a su laboriosidad, sino a su proyección en diversas redes.

Mit dem Zweiten Klavierkonzert und den Symphonischen Tänzen beschließen die Münchner Philharmoniker und Daniil Trifonov ihren Rachmaninow-Zyklus.

Quand l'orchestre s'élague... le répertoire suit ! C'est en quelque sorte le credo de cette soirée, dédiée à de grandes œuvres pour orchestre arrangées pour orchestre de chambre.

Outre un Royal Philarmonic Orchestra London pléthorique, on aura retenu les délices pianistiques d’un Daniil Trifonov superlatif, et surtout un Chrales Dutoit qui nous livre Un Sacre du Printemps magistral d’énergie primale et de musicalité : des concerts qui vous revigorent pour longtemps !

Le Concerto pour piano n° 2 de Rachmaninov et la 5e symphonie de Tchaïkovsky réunis sous la baguette de Michael Schønwandt à la tête de l'Orchestre National Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon et sous les doigts prodigieux d'Alxander Gavrylyuk.

La grande musique russe était au programme de l'OPS, en compagnie de la chef chinoise Xian Zhang et du pianiste Alexander Gavrylyuk.

Fabio Luisi manövrierte seine Philharmonia Zürich durch Tschaikowsky und bot mit ihr eine hervorragende Begleitering für Ivo Pogorelichs Rachmaninow-Interpretation. 

La pianista georgiana destaca en el atractivo doble programa para el final de temporada de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León.