Despite wonderful contributions from Stanislav Kochanovsky and the Orchestre de Paris, a disappointing opening to the Philharmonie's Rachmaninov Weekend.
In its chamber music textures, Shostakovich's 15th couldn’t provide greater contrast to Rachmaninov’s rainforest of notes in this Slavic double bill from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony.
In an all-Russian programme, Agrest gave us a thoughtfully textured Tchaikvosky 4, while the ease with which Andrey Gugnin took on Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto was a delight.
Rachmaninov was not an especially religious man, yet he composed religious music, most famously the haunting All-Night Vigil (or Vespers) which was the climax to this evening's two Proms.
The hometown Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá (OFB) proves big-league as they launch the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo's Bogotá es la Rusia Romántica.
A journey of emotions with the Munich Philharmonic under Gergiev resplendent in Ravel and Richard Strauss, thought-provoking in Ustvolskaya, and Behzod Abduraimov electrifying in Rachmaninov.
Denis Matsuev's dazzlingly virtuosic account of Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto was contrasted by Yuri Temirkanov's gentle reading of Brahms' Second Symphony.
Cristian Măcelaru brought his pedigree as a conductor to the CBSO with Sibelius, Rachmaninov and Nielsen. How would he fare in Birmingham with such a varied programme?
A performance by Leo van Doeselaar on the Concertgebouw’s Maarschalkerweerd Organ in Saint-Saëns’ Symphony no. overshadows all else in the Concertgebouw.
A very exciting evening at Poole’s Lighthouse with the BSO and artist in residence Sunwook Kim playing Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto together for the first time.
A deeply satisfying instalment to the LPO’s Rachmaninov series contained two towering masterpieces presented in very different ways – lightness of touch in the concerto and emotional sweep in the symphony.
Yuja Wang has the virtuosity for Rachmaninov in spades and stamina to spare, but her technically brilliant performance raised the question of whether it all wasn’t a little too easy.
With the double bicentenary of Verdi and Wagner this year, other musical landmarks risk being eclipsed. But this October “La Verdi” commemorate the 140th anniversary of Rachmaninov’s birth with a series of concerts and lectures featuring all four of his piano concertos alongside works by other Russian greats.
The Madrid Symphony Orchestra has a busy season ahead. In addition to taking care of all the productions of the Spanish capital’s opera house, they are presenting a series of concerts in the Auditorio Nacional, the city’s concert hall. The first of these proposed a programme devoted to Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky – in itself, illustrative of the level of their ambition.
This evening’s Prom programme by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was ambitious in its musical and conceptual scale: one of the most demanding piano concertos in the repertoire, a fate-laden symphony, and as if that were not enough, an orchestral account of the beginnings of the universe.
Thursday’s concert with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra started not with music, but with an award ceremony. It was the Norwegian Sibelius Society that gave away its annual award for the strengthening of cultural ties between Norway and Finland.
A neighbour at a recent visiting orchestra’s Edinburgh Festival concert asked me what I thought of the atonal frenzy in the pre-performance free-for-all; warm-up scales mingled with sneak peeks at tricky passages. My response was that a school orchestra would not be allowed to do this.
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra have had a couple of high-profile guest performers in town for their most recent series of concerts. They presented works by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, a piano concerto and a symphony respectively, in a program that, although disastrously designed, was redeemed by some stellar playing.
Thursday evening at Renzo Piano’s modern Sala Santa Cecilia in Rome, a program given of Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov’s music was marked by grace, musical distinction, and infectious excitement. The excitement was brought by the pianism of the young Daniil Trifonov, who astounded with profound and agreeable musicality in the Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor.
Rarely have I seen a conductor so excited! On completion of Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Michael Seal looked like the cat that got the cream – and rightly so. He had just launched his audience into this concert with a terrific bang.
"A composer's music should express the country of his birth.." (Rachmaninov)Had Debussy adhered to his programme partner’s dictum, he might have struggled to write Images (1905-1912).
In the relay race of Russian Romanticism, Rachmaninov clearly took the baton from Tchaikovsky and made a dash for the finishing line. In transcribing some of Tchaikovsky’s works, he would have imbibed much of his genius, but he took the Romantic tradition into the 20th century in a new direction without losing its essence.
José Trigueros se ponía al frente de la Sinfónica de Galicia por segunda vez con un programa complejo que incluyó el tercer concierto de Rachmaninov con Simon Trpčeski como solista.
L’Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn accueillait, pour cette nouvelle session, le jeune chef tchèque Jiří Rožeň, accompagné par le pianiste Adam Laloum pour un programme très romantique mêlant Hersant, Rachmaninov et Dvořák.
La Orquesta y el Coro Nacionales de España han comenzado su nueva temporada 'Paroxismos' con un brillante concierto que reunió el virtuosismo de Rachmaninov con la maestría de Ravel de la mano del director Juanjo Mena y el pianista Nikolai Lugansky.
El estreno español de Drifts, de Sebastian Fagerlund, la presencia de la glamourosa pianista georgiana Khatia Buniatishvili y la interpretación de una pieza capital del repertorio sinfónico del siglo XX como La consagración de la primavera fueron los ingredientes del concierto que cerró la temporada de la Sinfónica de Galicia.
Rachmaninows Drittes Klavierkonzert war bei Nikolai Lugansky in seiner natürlichen Musikalität phänomenal, und mit Skrjabins Zweiter Symphonie erlaubte das Russische Nationalorchester unter Mikhail Pletnev die Begegnung mit selten aufgeführter Spätromantik.
Unter der Leitung von Valery Gergiev spielte das Königliche Concertgebouw Orchester das Dritte Klavierkonzert von Sergei Rachmaninow und die Dritte Symphonie von Alexander Skrjabin – ein Konzertabend mit großem Volumen und tollen Einzelleistungen.
Durch und durch russisch präsentierte sich der Saisonauftakt des Musikverein Graz, der im Vorfeld noch durch eine kurzfristige Programmänderung gerettet werden musste.
Le précédent Troisième concerto de Trifonov, en 2015 avec Chung, avait suffisamment marqué les esprits pour qu’on l’invite à rebiffer, Gergiev au pupitre...
Il fallait bien la solidité technique et la richesse expressive, rares, de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Saint-Pétersbourg, alliées au brio et à l’élégance d’un Berezovsky en très grande forme, pour sublimer ces deux substances au détriment d’aucune. Un grand concert !
