Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances

The evening

Romance, rhythm and the dance of life itself: that’s the story of this colourful concert performed by Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Tchaikovsky put all his energy and youthful longing into his famous retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and the result is one of the greatest love themes in all music. They say that Rachmaninoff imagined a dream ballet when he composed his last masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances – a vision of haunted waltzes and raw, unstoppable life force from a genius in exile. And as for Saint-Saëns’ exuberant Second Piano Concerto: well, one critic said that it begins in church and ends at an orgy. It’ll fizz like champagne tonight, as Vasily Petrenko partners one of France’s most brilliant pianists, Bertrand Chamayou.