St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra

For almost thirty years now, Yuri Temirkanov and his musicians from St. Petersburg have been taking us on a regular musical journey to their homeland. Once again, we are back to the basics with Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. To begin with, the Concerto No. 3, much less played than the famous Nos. 2 and 4, is one of the most challenging and demanding works ever written for the instrument. Bathed in a highly romantic lyricism, it adopts the cyclical principle that unites the three movements and offers a palette of emotional chiaroscuro typical of the composer. It takes a performer of Boris Berezovsky's calibre to master this devilishly complex work. In the second part, Tchaikovsky's Fourth, which inaugurates the idea of destiny, a theme that will be fully illustrated in the musician's last two symphonies. But Tchaikovsky cannot be reduced to a certain form of 'pessimistic sentimentalism', as he offered some of the most beautiful examples of Russian romantic symphony through his lyricism.

PRODUCTION Théâtre des Champs-Elysées