March 25, 2026 | Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow Intermational Performing Arts Center
Soloist – Denis Matsuev, piano
Conductor – Vladimir Spivakov
Schumann. Concerto for piano and orchestra in A minor, Op. 54
Schubert. Symphony No. 4 in C minor ("Tragic"), D 417
The program of the nearest concert is dedicated to great works of the Austrian-German Romanticism. The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia directed by Vladimir Spivakov will perform two exceptional opuses of the first half of the 19th century – Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Franz Schubert’s Fourth (‘Tragic”) Symphony. The soloist in the Concerto will be the brilliant pianist Denis Matsuev whose name has become the symbol of highest mastery, mighty expression and a rear capacity of combining the power of sound with the gracefulness of interpretation.
The Piano Concerto is a work to which Schumann had been coming for almost two decades from the first idea to its full embodiment. The First Movement had been written before the rest and named A Fantasy by the author, and then a lyrical Intermezzo and a robust Finale were added to it. The idea of the work in which the themes of all three movements are correlated with each other to a certain degree is close to Liszt’s monothematics. However, unlike his Concertos, Schumann’s work lacks in virtuosity underlining the inner grammaticism. The piano and the orchestra are involved in an interesting dialogue giving way to the world of finest emotions, doubts, outbursts and lyrical revelations.
Schubert's Fourth symphony, "Tragic", was created by 19-year-old composer, a follower of the Viennese classical school. In this work, he denied any imitation and, for the first time in his life, ventured to combine symphony and tragedy, doing so in his own authentic and exceptionally talented way. Here, the insightful young artist anticipated the foundations of the lyrical-dramatic symphony of the second half of the 19th century. Many years later, Igor Stravinsky called this score "Schubert's most astonishing symphonic achievement".