Share

Prokofiev in America, Stravinsky in Paris. In the Vienna Philharmonic's program with rising star Lukas Sternath, the two Russian avant-gardists meet, bringing dance frenzy, sonic frenzy, jazz, and folklore into conversation. Sergei Prokofiev was famous for his lion's paws, with which he mastered even the most difficult passages in his piano works with virtuosity and full fingering. The 24-year-old Levit student Lukas Sternath gladly accepts the challenge and plunges into the daring passages of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto. Its positive basic sound, coupled with distinct jazz elements, points directly to the period in which it was written in exile in New York.

A dubious meeting of heroes: The notorious womanizer Don Juan and the tragicomic Don Quixote would have little in common if Richard Strauss hadn't so brilliantly captured their fates in music. The Vienna Philharmonic will juxtapose the two symphonic poems in their ProArte program, bringing to life the stories of the literary-confused knight with his aide Sancho Panza and the momentous love affairs of the other Don. At the helm will be Daniel Harding, arguably one of the most interesting conductors of our time: after a meteoric start to his career, he put his baton aside for a while to pursue his second passion, flying as a pilot for Air France. Now, fortunately for audiences, he regularly conducts the finest orchestras again. Perhaps he'll even fly to the performance himself? Who knows.

The legendary Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Boston—its first visit since 2003—under the baton of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Andris Nelsons for a program of sumptuous late Romantic and 20th-century masterpieces.