Composer

EPSG:4326

Rachmaninoff The Three Operas

Opernhaus Zürich

Witness tomorrow’s musicians today as the English Schools’ Orchestra and award-winning pianist Michael Bostock bring the symphonic power of Rachmaninov, Wagenaar, and Scriabin to life in an extraordinary display of lyrical beauty and young talent.

The English Schools' Orchestra with Michael Bostock

Milton Court Concert Hall

Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk’s pianism is rooted in the great traditions of the Russian keyboard school, supercharged with virtuosity yet, as The Times put it, ‘emotionally gripping, structurally thoughtful, and deeply musical’. His recital embraces a striking range of musical styles and moods, from the Sonata in C K330, described by Alfred Einstein as ‘one of the most lovable works Mozart ever wrote’, to the deeply affecting romance of Rachmaninov’s capricious Second Piano Sonata.

Alexander Gavrylyuk piano

Wigmore Hall

Originally a famous studio orchestra and recreated as a labour of love by John Wilson, the Sinfonia of London has taken the orchestral world by storm. With a uniquely vibrant sound, this hand-picked, all-star ensemble has won a host of major awards for its recordings, and this dazzling programme of orchestral showpieces is the perfect showcase for its Usher Hall debut.

Sinfonia of London

Usher Hall

The Symphony Orchestra gives a nod to Halloween with the first of its fall performances, opening with Strauss's overture to the opera Die Fledermaus, a tale hinging on revenge for a costume party prank. Continuing the program is Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, its numerous variations including the Dies irae ("day of wrath") plainchant from the medieval Mass of the Dead. The evening finishes with Berlioz's phantasmagorical Symphonie fantastique—the wild debauchery of its "Songe d'une nuit du sabbat" (often translated as "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath") offering a raucous sendoff.

Bienen EnsemblesNorthwestern University Symphony Orchestra 

Northwestern University

Few works test a pianist like Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, the centerpiece of this program of orchestral color and scale. Toledo Symphony favorite Jon Nakamatsu takes on the concerto, a legendary showpiece that pushes the piano to its limits while revealing moments of warmth and reflection. Hindemith’s Concert Music for Strings and Brass opens the evening with brisk orchestral interplay and tightly interlocking instrumental lines, with clear themes threading through the busy orchestral texture. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” brings the character of American song and wide landscapes into the concert hall in one of the most celebrated works in the symphonic repertoire.

Rachmaninoff & New World Symphony

Toledo Museum of Art

Ahead of next year’s centenary, Jeffrey Skidmore leads the glorious voices of RBC Chamber Choir in John Joubert’s powerful South of the Line, a setting of Thomas Hardy’s heartfelt anti-Boer War poems and written for the opening of the Adrian Boult Hall in 1985, plus a selection of other music by - and works which inspired - this great composer who made Birmingham his home for more than half a century.

Joubert Centenary Celebration

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

A few years ago, Benjamin Grosvenor claimed he wasn’t really all that talented. His stellar career, however, which has made him one of the most sought-after pianists around the world today, tells a different tale. Time and again, international reviewers have praised his brilliant technical abilities, which are combined with an instinct for sound and the courage to delve deep into the realms of lyricism. This makes him the perfect choice of soloist for Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a bravura signature piece combining daredevil keyboard acrobatics with intimate contemplation. Where Rachmaninov plunged straight into the maelstrom of grand emotions, Sergei Prokofiev chose serious retrospection. His dark-hued Symphony No. 6, a masterwork of pain and wistfulness, reflects the horrors of World War II. The Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, chief conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, opens the gates to a deeply touching world of melancholy.

Breaking New Paths

Cologne Philharmonie

When you think of Russian music, you think of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov – two giants of melody and emotion, who could create whole worlds of feeling from a single piano. Ukrainian born Alexander Gavrylyuk is soaked in that tradition, and today he pairs two of their most personal masterpieces with three composers who inspired them: Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky’s lifelong hero Mozart.

Steinway International Piano Series: Alexander Gavrylyuk

Bute Park

Open the season with a feast for the senses as the full orchestra launches the year in spectacular fashion. This program transforms iconic works of visual art into sound—surreal, sweeping, and unforgettable. Michael Daugherty’s dazzling The Hallucinogenic Toreador bursts with color and wit, channeling the dreamlike world of Salvador Dalí, while Rachmaninoff’s haunting Isle of the Dead draws listeners into a darkly beautiful, hypnotic soundscape inspired by Böcklin’s mysterious painting. After intermission comes one of the greatest orchestral showpieces of all time: Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky’s vivid musical gallery, brought to blazing life in Ravel’s brilliant orchestration. Bold, immersive, and thrilling from the first note to the last, this season opener is a must-hear celebration of art, imagination, and orchestral power.

Pictures at an Exhibition: From Dali to Mussorgky

Tuscawilla Park

With the concert series »Bock auf Klassik?!«, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne invites everyone under the age of 29 to an evening that brings classical music to life in a new way: accessible, vibrant and surprisingly different. For just 8 euros, you can enjoy great works, a personal introduction to the evening’s programme, and afterwards a musical finale with a DJ, free drinks and a relaxed atmosphere in the foyer.

Bock auf Klassik?!

The haunting atmosphere and enchanting melodies of Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 — his “Unfinished” Symphony — always cast a hypnotic spell. Why didn’t he ever complete the work? Explore this puzzling mystery as you experience Schubert’s symphony of light and shadow.

Rachmaninoff & Schubert

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

The first weekend of our Piano Festival launches with two nights of Romantic firepower from legendary pianists. Andreas Delfs leads the orchestra in two unique programs spotlighting towering works by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. Olga Kern tackles the volcanic intensity of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3, framed by the composer’s haunting Isle of the Dead and Moment Musical, Etude Tableaux, and Polichinelle. Each evening offers a distinct program, revealing the passion, drama, and virtuosic brilliance that make these composers—and these pianists—truly unforgettable.

Piano Festival: Kern Plays Rachmaninov

Eastman Theatre

Towering masterpieces dominate the opening concerts of the Reno Phil’s 58th season. Driven by rhythm and bold expression, the vibrant pulse of Mariachitlán by Juan Pablo Contreras moves with confidence and purpose—direct, energized, and alive. Audience favorite Jon Nakamatsu returns to the stage to tackle the ultimate challenge, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the hardest-to-master works in the repertoire. After its premiere in New York City, a critic wrote that “it's great length and extreme difficulties bar it from performances by any but pianists of exceptional technical powers.” Nakamatsu brings command and intensity to this iconic work, creating a gripping exchange between soloist and orchestra. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 stands at the fault line between Classical restraint and emerging Romantic force—bright, propulsive, and charged with forward motion. Beneath its radiant surface lies a restless, assertive energy that crackles with propulsion and tension, revealing Beethoven on the brink of redefining what a symphony could be.

Rachmaninoff’s  Third Piano Concerto

Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts

We’re “Rach”-ing the stage. Jessie Montgomery’s Banner kicks things off with a bold, thought-provoking take on a familiar anthem. Then it’s all eyes on Orchestra Iowa Concertmaster Julia Sakharova as she lights up the stage in Mendelssohn’s electrifying Violin Concerto. Lastly, Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 3 brings big, bold, beautifully dramatic melodies to an already unforgettable musical experience.

Masterworks II – Symphony No. 3

Paramount Theatre Iowa

The University of Iowa School of Music - Voxman Building

Masterworks II – Symphony No. 3 (Paramount Theatre)

He was plagued by self-doubt and had abandoned his music.  But when inspired to compose again, Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote the music that would make him immortal.  Joyce Yang plays the Second Piano Concerto.  “Vivid and beautiful playing,” proclaims The New York Times.  The concert begins with The Block, a bold work from a bold voice of our time, Carlos Simon.   And to close, the Symphony No. 4 of Tchaikovsky, music that would express the composer’s inner anguish and romantic passions in a way no music had ever dared to.

Joyce Yang Plays Rachmaninoff

Overture Center for the Arts

Written at Villa Senar, the composer’s home on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, this compact late work – premièred in Philadelphia in 1936 – features romantic melodies, references to the Dies irae and a thunderously triumphant conclusion.

Rachmaninov’s Symphony No.3

Smith Square Hall

British-born Sir Stephen Hough seems to defy categorisation: he is at once a pianist, composer, writer, and polymath – and a musician of extraordinary curiosity with a penchant for unconventional perspectives. This is particularly evident in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s famous Third Piano Concerto. The late-Romantic “Rach 3” is considered one of the most demanding works in the concerto repertoire and places almost superhuman demands on the soloist, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the “Concerto for Elephants” – according to one calculation, its piano part contains more notes per second than any major piano concerto. Combined with the two electrifying Stravinsky works in the second half of the concert and BRSO Chief Conductor Sir Simon Rattle on the podium, this promises to be a truly thrilling musical experience.

Sir Simon Rattle & Sir Stephen Hough | Guest concert in Milan

Teatro alla Scala

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / The Rite of Spring

Start the season with a powerful and dramatic evening of orchestral favorites, led by Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Ari Pelto. Sibelius’s Finlandia sets the stage with its soaring, cinematic sweep, followed by Wagner’s majestic music from Act III of Die Meistersinger. The night closes with Rachmaninoff’s electrifying Symphonic Dances – bold, colorful, and unforgettable.

Opening Night: Nordic Lights & Romantic Fire

Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center

Join CMA Artistic Director Kathleen Carter Bell as she collaborates with members of the Harrington String Quartet and the ASO’s Principal Cellist for an evening of evocative music spanning from impressionist Paris to the Welsh countryside.

Echoes and Landscapes

First Baptist Church Amarillo

Newly appointed Music Director Designate Paolo Bortolameolli opens the 2026-27 season and a new era in the Phoenix Symphony’s history with Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, a triumph of power, lyricism and irony. Premiered war-torn Soviet Union in 1945 with victory over Nazi Germany within reach, Prokofiev’s popular symphony is famous for its sweeping melodies, rhythmic drive and rich orchestration. The curtain rises with Mikhail Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, a dazzling opening to the new season. Featured prominently in the 1996 film “Shine,” Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is one of the most technically challenging works in the repertoire. Russian pianist Olga Kern, Gold Medalist of the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, who performed all of Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos in 2012 for the Phoenix Symphony’s Rachmaninoff Festival, is soloist in the concerto that’s respected and even feared by pianists.

Paolo Conducts Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev

Phoenix Convention Center

Its staggering technical difficulty is legendary. Its colossal power and depth of expression—breathtaking.

Rachmaninoff Festival: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3

Jones Hall

Conductor Karina Canellakis leads a trio of thrilling works that demonstrate the world-building power of the modern orchestra. Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s 2003 tone poem The Kingdom of Silence evokes a vibrant realm of mystery and magic. Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti brings her signature passion and precision to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a boldly cosmopolitan showpiece that boasts traditional Russian folk tunes as well as clickety-clackety castanets and other Spanish signifiers. Symphonic Dances, the ailing Rachmaninoff’s spectacular swan song, represents the composer’s late period at its opulent best. Rich in eccentric colors, it conjures up entire galaxies of expression.

Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances

Davies Symphony Hall

Two eloquent champions of their respective instruments, fearless in their pursuit of engaging repertoire and fresh artistic adventures, unite for a lunchtime programme that spans an oceanwide expanse of musical styles and moods. MILOŠ sets the scene with the debonair Prelude to Mexican composer Manuel Ponce’s homage to Bach’s near-contemporary, the lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss, with Ksenija Sidorova’s accordion virtuosity enhancing their recital’s energy quotient with her dazzling Piazzolla reflections.

MILOŠ guitar; Ksenija Sidorova accordion

Sir Simon Rattle & Sir Stephen Hough

Gasteig HP8

Rapturous, ravishing, romantic: Rachmaninoff’s music goes straight to the heart.

Rachmaninoff Festival: Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony

Scarred by cold criticism after the premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff believed he’d never write another. But after a 10-year battle with creative self-doubt, his next symphony proved a triumphant success — a testament to the composer’s resilience and his ability to pierce the heart with music of profound beauty. With its aching lyricism and fevered sensuality, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 embraces love and loss, passion and despair, while offering some of the most ravishing melodies ever written.

Rachmaninoff & Time for Three

Thief, Poet, & Songs

Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center

Tour: Bratislava

Slovak Philharmonic – Reduta

Anita Rachvelishvili

San Carlo Theatre

The orchestra comes alive in Symphonic Dances, an evening of rhythm, color, and sheer momentum. Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman opens with bold, unmistakable force, followed by the sparkling brilliance of Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture. Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G brings elegance and wit to the stage before Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances closes the program with sweeping intensity and drive.

Symphonic Dances

The Grand Opera House

Two of classical music's most beloved and popular works compete for attention this evening, with both Rachmaninov's sumptuously melodious 2nd Piano Concerto and Smetana's superhit Mà Vlast being placed in the hands of the energetic young conductor Nicolò Foron, who took both audience and orchestra by storm last season.

Má Vlast & Rakhmaninov's 2nd Piano Concert

Odense Concert Hall

Tour: Rimini

Teatro Amintore Galli

Tour: Verona

Teatro Filarmonico

Hailed for his “sweeping yet refined sentimentality and pyrotechnical prowess” (The Classical Music Journal), Michael Davidman is one of the most compelling pianists of his generation. The winner of the 2025 American Piano Awards and many other prizes, he has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Freixenet Encuentro Symphony Orchestra, Reina Sofía Orchestra, Monterey Symphony, and other ensembles across the United States and abroad.

Michael Davidman, piano

Kaufman Music Center

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Idaho State University

Third Prize Winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition Zitong Wang brings Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante, a work that pairs poetic lyricism with dazzling virtuosity. The concert opens with Tchaikovsky’s Marche Slave, a rousing and dramatic work infused with folk-inspired melodies and patriotic spirit. Yao Chen’s Garden: Unearthing the Way Home follows, before Rachmaninov’s First Symphony concludes with sweeping intensity and symphonic grandeur.

Swire Proudly Sponsors: Belt and Road: Zitong Wang Plays Chopin

Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Anchorage favorite Timothy Smith returns to open the season with Liszt’s First Piano Concerto, a showpiece so technically demanding it was once considered unplayable. Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity opens the evening, a work built around themes of togetherness and shared joy. Then Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, written after years of creative paralysis following the disastrous premiere of his First. He spent nearly a decade doubting himself before he found his way back. You can hear every bit of it in this music.

Opening Night: Rachmaninoff’s Second

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts

They began at the piano. Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Mehldau: three composers from three centuries whose musical vision blossomed from the keyboard to the orchestra.  You’ll experience the intensity of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, a drama of conflict and willpower compressed into eight fierce minutes.  You’ll soar in Rachmaninoff’s brilliant Symphony No. 3, a work that combines yearning for the composer’s homeland as well as the energy of his adopted America. 

Rachmaninoff & Mehldau

Shermerhorn Symphony Center

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4

Celebrate National Day with Zitong Wang, Third Prize Winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition, as she takes on Prokofiev’s whimsical yet barnstorming Piano Concerto no. 3. Described by Chopin Courier as “one of the most captivating personalities”, Wang ignites the stage with dazzling virtuosity and electrifying energy under the baton of Yuan Ding, Principal Resident Conductor of China National Opera House. The programme opens with Chinese composer Yao Chen’s Garden: Unearthing the Way Home, a poetic soundscape inspired by the art of garden-making, offering a journey of spiritual renewal. Rachmaninov’s brooding and dramatic First Symphony crowns the evening with sweeping intensity and symphonic grandeur.

National Day Concert: Zitong Wang Plays Prokofiev

The works in Clare Hammond’s recital demand a union of exceptional technical skills and deep artistic sensibility, qualities she possesses in abundance. The British pianist’s programme reflects her profound interest in the music of Poland and determination to broaden the keyboard repertoire with new work, present here in the form of the world première of two études by Emma-Ruth Richards, a composer praised by Musical Opinion for the ‘exceptional refinement and subtlety’ of her music.

Clare Hammond piano

In the 40 years since he won the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, Barry Douglas has garnered critical acclaim and a global following for performances hallmarked by their depth of insight, integrity and authority. His lunchtime recital includes a selection of exquisite miniatures drawn from Brahms’s late Op. 116 collection and Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons and the bold expressive masterstrokes of Musorgsky’s Pictures from an Exhibition.

Barry Douglas piano

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

What defines the American spirit? Join the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for America the Beautiful, a historic 250th anniversary celebration featuring a vibrant journey through our nation’s musical landscape and a soaring performance of Rachmaninoff’s final masterpiece.

America the Beautiful: A 250 Celebration

Civic Center Music Hall

The American Voice

Julie Rogers Theatre

Feel the heart-stopping beauty of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 performed by acclaimed pianist Daniel Lebhardt come alive with sweeping melodies and emotional depth.  Then join us as we journey to the stars with Holst’s The Planets, from fiery battles to shimmering serenity.  Let the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Lee Reynolds, guide you through this concert of sheer musical wonder.

The Planets 2026

Royal Albert Hall

Music Director Thomas Sondergard conducts two towering masterpieces in one unforgettable Season Opener. Piano superstar Alexander Malofeev shines in Rachmaninov’s glittering Fourth Piano Concerto. Composed in exile, it’s a work of brooding lyricism, lush orchestration and expressive melodies. Meanwhile, Mahler’s mighty Sixth Symphony is one man’s struggle against impossible odds, told in music of soaring emotion and shattering power. It’s the most gripping possible start to our new Concert Season. Be there.

RSNO Season 26-27: Season Opener - Mahler Six

The program features two compositions by Antonio Giardina,  Nightscapes  and  Mandorlo in Fiore , both performed for the first time ever. Two profoundly different works in origin and imagery, but united by a highly descriptive conception of music, in which sound often arises from an image, a real or imaginary landscape, or an emotional state transformed into musical material.

Notes at the Museum

Palazzo Abatellis

Your LPO returns to open the season with an unforgettable Opening Night featuring the festive energy and orchestral color of Anna Clyne’s Masquerade. The evening continues with the lush, sweeping romanticism of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a work of unparalleled passion and virtuosity. We conclude this grand debut with the profound depth and monumental power of Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, marking a triumphant return to the Orpheum Theater.

Opening Night: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

Orpheum Theater

Seemingly transparent, delicate and almost floating, the music of Peinture propelled Edison Denisov to become one of the leading modernists of what was then the Soviet Union – he formed the USSR’s troika of the non-conformist avantgarde together with Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, whose works can also be heard at this year’s festival. Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin present this far too rarely performed orchestral work at Musikfest Berlin, before unveiling a genuine rediscovery with the Second Symphony by Anatol Vieru, who would have turned 100 this year. The Romanian composer wrote the work in West Berlin in 1973. The evening will be rounded off by the choral symphony The Bells, which Sergei Rachmaninoff considered one of his best works. The Rundfunkchor Berlin will sing alongside an ensemble of internationally renowned soloists.

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

Berliner Philharmoniker

The opening of the 2026/2027 season takes you on a musical journey across stormy seas, through sparkling nightscapes and symphonic dances with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, and the legendary soprano Nina Stemme. Here, the musical sea interpretations of British composers Ethel Smyth, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar meet with the Russian sonorous and dancing energy of Sergei Rachmaninov. A concert where natural forces, emotional storms and symphonic brilliance meet.

Sea Music and Symphonic Dances

Berwaldhallen

Back in Berlin: after the triumphant success of its debut in 2024, the Kansas City Symphony accompanied by its conductor Matthias Pintscher is making a further guest appearance at the Musikfest Berlin. Alongside Tchaikovsky’s popular Violin Concerto with the Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot, the programme also includes Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 characterised by the emotions of grief and valediction. Olga Neuwirth’s orchestral pieces Tombeau I und Dreydl have a focus on transience and remembrance. The first work is a musical commemoration of Pierre Boulez. In the words of the Austrian composer, the title of the second piece alludes to the “fateful cycle of destiny”.

Kansas City Symphony

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto is one of classical music’s greatest comeback stories. Composed after a crippling period of depression and writer’s block, the piece overflows with Rachmaninoff’s hard-won confidence, victory, and profound lyricism.

Rachmaninoff & Adams

Hollywood Bowl

Hailed by Chicago Tribune as "a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat," Yekwon Sunwoo is a powerful and virtuosic performer who, in his own words, "strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.”

Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

Tippet Rise Art Center

Trio Azura has quickly emerged as one of today’s most promising young ensembles, praised by Gramophone for its “intelligence and imagination” and “profound emotion.” Formed in 2022 at the Colburn School, where they are ensemble in residence, the trio studies with Jonathan Brown, Martin Beaver, Clive Greensmith, and Fabio Bidini. The members of Trio Azura were named winners of the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and appointed YCA Jacobs Fellows, becoming YCA’s first ensemble in residence.

Trio Azura

The pianist Simon Bürki, who was born in St. Gallen, was just 11 years old when he won three prizes at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in 2011. They were far from his last: by now he has collected more than 20 awards, including the Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar and the “Step to Mastery” Competition in St. Petersburg. Yet Bürki resisted the lure of a Wunderkind career and pursued his studies with steady determination — first in Kyiv and Moscow and then in the United States with Sergei Babayan, who also trained Daniil Trifonov. In 2023, Bürki released his debut CD, Reminiscence, a collection of Romantic miniatures from Schumann to Rachmaninoff.

Simon Bürki

Reformierte Lukaskirche

High Festival Level

Imperial Baths

Grandiose romanticism performed by one of the best orchestras in the world. Rachmaninoff and Mahler on the program of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. A song that is most expressive without words. A virtuoso piano concerto that is probably more “comfortable” than the previous one, only according to its composer. A symphony that took the genre to a whole new level. Each one is a beautiful, emotionally resonant piece. The orchestral version of Vocalise, a gem of the vocal repertoire, originally written for voice and piano, will open the concert, followed by Piano Concerto No. 3, with Isata Kanneh-Mason, who has performed at major concert halls in the world, from the Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, as a soloist, and recorded a number of exciting albums as a Decca Classics artist. After the interval, the orchestra will perform Mahler’s lengthy palette of emotions, his Symphony No. 1, which was premiered in Budapest.

Tour: La Chaise-Dieu

Saint-Robert Abbey Church, La Chaise-Dieu

This thrilling program centers on piano duets by Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and György Kurtág, which are performed here by award-winning pianists Kirill Gerstein and Katia Skanavi. The duo is joined by New York Philharmonic Associate Principal Percussionist Daniel Druckman and Mike Truesdell for Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, a work that was wonderfully innovative (for its unusual instrumentation and wide range of influences) when Bartók premiered it alongside his pianist wife in 1938.

Bartók & Rachmaninoff

Lensic Performing Arts Center

The acclaimed Rachmaninoff cycle that Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra have been developing since 2019 comes to its culmination this evening. Chailly’s vision has been not only to present the celebrated warhorses — the Second and Third Piano Concertos and the Second Symphony — but also to champion rarely heard treasures. One such rarity is the early opera Aleko, which Rachmaninoff wrote as a 19-year-old student. 

Lucerne Festival Orchestra | Riccardo Chailly | Lukas Sternath

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

The award-winning Ulster Youth Orchestra presents its Summer Concert on 16 August 2026 when 93 talented young musicians will bring energetic, high quality orchestral music to Ulster Hall stage!

Ulster Youth Orchestra Summer Concert

Ulster Hall

Tour: Menuhin Festival Gstaad

Festival-Zelt Gstaad

A passionate Sonatenabend (or “Evening of Sonatas”) with pieces by Bowen, Faure, and Rachmaninoff.

Sonatabend: Romance at the Bay

Pacific Maritime Heritage Center

Claudia Vento, Piano

Chiaramonte Steri Palace

Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff stand among the greatest poet-composers of the piano, each creating music of profound depth, beauty, and emotional power that continues to captivate audiences worldwide. In this program, pianist Michelle Yelin Nam brings these two towering figures into dialogue, interweaving their works to illuminate the striking affinities between them across time and culture.

Two Romantics: Dialogue between Chopin & Rachmaninoff | Michelle Yelin Nam, piano

Clayton State University

“The Journey Home” offers a personal reflection within our American Adventures season, shaped by conductor Leonard Slatkin’s own musical path and the works that have accompanied him along the way. Cindy McTee’s Circuits crackles with electric energy and brilliant orchestral interplay. Voyager 130, a piece written by Slatkin’s son, looks outward and inward at once, inspired by space exploration yet grounded in memory and connection. Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 was written after the composer’s emigration from Russia to America, and is the music of longing, resilience, and the profound pull of home. 

The Journey Home

Riverwalk Center

We are very grateful to Rustem Hayroudinoff for stepping in to perform this recital in place of Richard Goode, who has had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

Rustem Hayroudinoff

Wadham College

The festival is thrilled to present one of the most exciting emerging instrumental talents, Greek pianist Theodosia Ntokou, who has counted Martha Argerich as her mentor since 2009. Theodosia joins the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for all the fresh air, spontaneity and adventure of one of the central piano concertos of the literature, that by Edvard Grieg – followed here by Rachmaninov’s symphony of infernal whirlwinds, passionate declarations of love and heartfelt longing for peace.

Grieg Piano Concerto

University of Oxford

Johannes Moser, known for performances seasoned by his capacious imagination and poetic artistry, is joined by his regular duo partner Andrei Korobeinikov in a programme hallmarked by two fascinating pairings of works. Nadia Boulanger’s 3 pieces, composed in 1914, provide a playful introduction to the five contrasting movements of the Cello Sonata Britten wrote for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1961, while Rachaminov’s Vocalise makes a charming companion to the cello version of César Franck’s weighty Violin Sonata.

Johannes Moser cello; Andrei Korobeinikov piano

Close the season on the grand piano with pianist Stewart Goodyear taking center stage. Featuring Goodyear’s own genre-blending works—offering a sneak peek of an upcoming WCO recording—this program builds toward one of the most iconic pieces in American music: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Jazz-inflected, virtuosic, and unforgettable, it’s a piano marathon and a bold and satisfying sendoff to summer on the Square. Learn more about Stewart Goodyear.

Rhapsody Squared

Capitol Square

Capturing the frenetic spirit of the 1930s and ’40s, conductor Kevin John Edusei leads a vibrant program that highlights Rachmaninoff’s fiery Symphonic Dances, his last major composition, which The Cleveland Orchestra plays side-by-side with the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra. The swirling Hungarian rhythms of Kodály’s Dances of Galánta open the evening before giving way to Martinů’s energetic First Cello Concerto, performed by Principal Cello Mark Kosower.

Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances

Blossom Music Center

Few can match the dazzling brilliance and zen-like focus that Boris Giltburg brings to every performance. His latest Wigmore Hall recital would command attention for no other reason than its inclusion of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, a titanic monument of Romantic music. Yet the Moscow-born Israeli pianist places Liszt’s single-movement masterwork in company with a succession of musically powerful, technically-demanding compositions, crowned by Gaspard de la nuit, Ravel’s mesmerising suite of character pieces.

Boris Giltburg piano

Experience the rich lyricism of Rachmaninov and the vibrant spirit of African and American song in this captivating recital by soprano Nombulelo Yende – BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finalist – and pianist Mariusz Kłubczuk. A programme of emotional depth and cultural resonance awaits.

Nombulelo Yende soprano; Mariusz Kłubczuk piano

A recital as Babayan likes them: unexpected and varied, a journey that takes us from Schubert to the land of the Wizard of Oz. Sergei Babayan has devised an ideal program for a summer late afternoon. A program made largely of transcriptions: Schubert and Schumann lieder transcribed by Liszt, Rachmaninoff romances reduced for solo piano, a miniature by Kreisler revised by Rachmaninoff.

Composer

Sergey Rachmaninoff

Events

Upcoming events

1 - 28 Nov, 2026

Rachmaninoff The Three Operas ·

5 - 6 Nov, 2026

BRSO: Takemitsu / Britten / Rachmaninoff · BRSO

5 - 6 Nov, 2026

Sir Simon Rattle & Julia Hagen · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

5 - 10 Nov, 2026

Bolero · Teatro di San Carlo

Nov 6, 2026

BRSO: Takemitsu / Britten / Rachmaninoff · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Past events

1 - 28 Nov, 2026

Rachmaninoff The Three Operas ·

Nov 1, 2026

The English Schools' Orchestra with Michael Bostock · Guildhall School of Music & Drama

About

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