Lugansky performs Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1

Vasily Petrenko (conductor)
Nikolai Lugansky (piano)

LIADOV The Enchanted Lake
TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5

This all-Russian spectacular features the most popular piano concerto in the repertoire; a wild Cossack-ride through virtuoso territory that leaves audiences breathless in its wake. Incredibly, when Tchaikovsky first showed it to his mentor Nikolay Rubinstein, he was told that only ‘two or three pages’ were worth preserving! Liadov's creative output reflects his life-long desire to escape from reality. 'Give me a fairy tale', he once said, 'a dragon, a water-sprite, a forest-demon – give me something unreal and I am happy.’ The première of Prokofiev’s noble Fifth Symphony was all too real as the sound of cannon fire from outside the hall signalled the end of hostilities in World War II.