Name: Dream of Tchaikovsky
Start: 2025-10-22T19:00:00
Location: Alte Oper

Alexander Malofeev

Ivan Repušić

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

There is hardly another work that goes all out right from the start: Tchaikovsky's intoxicating Piano Concerto in B-flat minor is immediately at full throttle – with a striking orchestral tutti and massive piano chords that demand steely precision from the pianist. Incredibly, his teacher wanted to give him a good dressing-down for this concerto. "Perhaps one or two pages are worth saving, the rest must be destroyed," was his verdict. It's fortunate the composer didn't heed his advice, otherwise one of the most beloved and brilliant Romantic piano concertos would no longer exist. But as it is, you can experience it in this concert, with the young keyboard virtuoso Alexander Malofeev, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and conductor Ivan Repušić. Speaking of the "world": Peter Tchaikovsky was well-versed in it, having traveled extensively in his time – including to Italy, where he collected Italian folk music and transformed it in his own unique way into a lively orchestral piece: his "Capriccio italien." And those who know their way around, like him, pronounce "italien" in the French way!