A horn calls softly, a piano dreams in the twilight, and Scriabin’s Piano Concerto begins its enchanted journey. That’s the centrepiece of the opening concert of our season: the finest piano concerto Rachmaninov never wrote, played by a soloist celebrated for his interpretations of the Russian piano repertoire. It’s a very different world from Shostakovich’s shattering Tenth Symphony. A heartfelt cry for freedom written under the shadow of Stalinism, it’s still one of the 20th century’s most overwhelming symphonic experiences. Donald Runnicles conducts, and opens the concert by whipping up a storm with Mussorgsky’s exciting orchestral showpiece.
