September 27, 2022 | Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
Subscription Series № 19: “The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia”
The Academic Grand Choir “Masters of Choral Singing”
Soloist – Alexander Kluchko, piano
Conductor – Vladimir Spivakov
Rachmaninoff. Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra in C minor, Op. 18
Rachmaninoff. Vocalise
Taneyev. «John of Damascus» – cantata for mixed choir and orchestra, Op. 1
In 2023 the music world will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Sergei Rachmaninoff's birth. In this connection during the 2022/2023 season, Vladimir Spivakov and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia will play all the main symphonic works (including Concertos) by the composer, and the September night at the Tchaikovsky Hall will start the NPR's great “Rachmaninoff Marathon”. Moreover Vladimir Spivakov is planning the release of all Rachmaninoff symphonies recordings by the Spring of 2023.
Rachmaninoff for Spivakov is one of most beloved and significant authors, lodestars, and his music always has taken important place in the maestro's repertoire. On this night the NPR's partner and leader on the stage will be the winner of the First Rachmaninoff Competition (2022) Alexander Kluchko who will play the solo part in the seminal Second Piano Concerto. “For me Rachmaninoff is a kind of nostalgia for something you still do not know and hence cannot explain. It is impossible to imagine a composer who could understand and describe the Russian life in music,” says the pianist. Critics characterize Alexander Kluchko as “a noble knight of touring battles which require from the soloist fortitude and physical and emotional expenses on one side, and on the other side - internal fragility, flexibility, elegance and fineness”, a pianist “whose playing manner subtly balances between sense and sensibility – an intellectual approach to interpretation and brilliant pliancy”.
Part 2 will feature the masterpiece by Rachmaninoff's mentor Sergei Taneyev. Vladimir Spivakov has already combined works of the both classics, for instance, in the “Holy Russia” CD. The maestro considers Taneyev's cantata “John of Damascus” to the verses by A. K. Tolstoy to be one of the summits of Russian classical choral music, “a genial musical prophecy”. The Academic Grand Choir “Masters of Choral Singing” will join the orchestra for the performance of the Cantata.