Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony

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Image courtesy of L'Auditori

A piece by Carl Nielsen is responsible for opening a concert based on northern latitudes in which works written in colder climates offer and incandescent musical warmth. The Danish composer evokes sunrise and its life-giving power in the Helios overture, which premièred in Copenhagen on October 8th, 1903.

Russian pianist Denis Kozhukin will then perform one of Prokofiev’s most polemic works, which was labelled too avant-garde when it premièred. The individual freedom of the piano ultimately facing the ensemble generates a striking artistic tension that was to contribute to the author’s fame.

No less valued for his work as a concert composer, Rachmaninoff also wrote four symphonies involving an effort not always repaid in terms of popularity. The critiques he received after his First Symphony affected his self-esteem yet his Second with its magnificent extension and a proudly post-romantic orchestral lavishness would help him to recover his high status amongst his peers.

Don’t miss this stunning repertoire performed by talented musicians at one of the city’s most impressive venues. 

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