| dimanche 15 février 2026 | 16:30 |
| Michal Oren | Direction |
| Misha Kaploukhii | Piano |
Tonight's concert, conducted by Michal Oren, weaves together three magnificent works united by profound emotional depth, dramatic narratives, and connections to stage and screen. This concert invites you on a journey through some of classical music's most passionate love stories: ideal for a Valentine's Day concert (albeit a day late!).
The concert opens with Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 played by Misha Kaploukhii. The director David Lean chose this monumental work to capture the emotion of the star-crossed lovers in his classic 1945 film, Brief Encounter. It is also a testament to Rachmaninov's resilience: he composed it between June 1900 and April 1901, after a bout of severe depression and writer's block brought on by the disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony. The concerto was an immediate success, captivating audiences with its sweeping string melodies, virtuosic piano writing, and lush orchestration.
Maurice Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé (Suite No. 2) was conceived as a ballet in three parts for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and adapted from a Greek pastoral romance. It tells the love story of the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé, and the ballet's music made an immediate impression.
The concert culminates with Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. The groundbreaking 1957 Broadway musical is a modern retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet set amidst rival street gangs in 1950s New York City. This suite has become one of the most performed orchestral works of the 20th century.
Michal Oren is an award-winning conductor from Tel-Aviv. Recently, she held the Female Conductor Trainee position at Opera North in Leeds, UK (2024-2025).
Michal won 1st prize in the 4th International Academy and Competition of Orchestra Conducting in Estoril, Portugal (2023), and 2nd prize in the International Orchestral Conducting Competition "Universidad de Almeria", Spain (2023). In 2024, she joined the two-year Women Conductors' Programme of the Royal Philharmonic Society with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, led by Alice Farnham. Michal was the Residence Music Scholar of the Robert Anderson Trust (2022-2025). Since 2015, she has been a scholar of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In June 2024, Michal and Martyn Brabbins shared Salomon's 60th Birthday concert, and we are pleased to invite Michal back to conduct us again tonight.
Misha Kaploukhii is a graduate of the Moscow Gnessin College of Music, where he studied under Mikhail Egiazaryan. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music and is now pursuing a Master of Performance under the guidance of Professor Ian Jones.
Recent UK concerto appearances include performances at Cadogan Hall, where he played Rachmaninoff's First Concerto, Brahms' Second Concerto with the YMSO, Liszt's Second Concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra, and Rachmaninoff's Fourth Concerto with the Albion Orchestra.
Misha's upcoming concerts include Beethoven's 4th with Greenwich Chamber Orchestra, and Brahms' 2nd with the RCM Philharmonic Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins.
