LPO presents Rachmaninoff: Inside Out

Three titans of classical music are to be exhibited in the next concert in the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rachmaninoff season: ‘Rachmaninoff: Inside Out’. In this instalment, the early twentieth century Russian master sits alongside works of fellow countryman Tchaikovsky, and German genius Richard Wagner. Twenty-four yeart old globe-trotting concert pianist Behzod Abduraimov, winner of the London International Piano competition at just 18, joins the orchestra. Veteran US conductor David Zinman, having just stepped down from directorship of the Tonhalle Orchestra in his 78th year, conducts.
The concert is to open with the German’s overture from his 1845 opera, Tannhäuser. The orchestral piece introduces a story centred on the struggle between sacred and profane love, and redemption through both. The heavily Romantic themes and hugely emotive harmony are in full force in this fifteen minute piece, which consolidates the main musical material of the opera to come. A beautiful piece, which stirs and drives emotions in a way that only Wagner’s music can - the triumphant ending is a joy. Later is Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony of 1878, dedicated to his best friend and written in the wake of the composer’s catastrophic marriage. The work is ultimately melancholic in tone, though its end is an extraordinary display of orchestral fireworks - a uplifting finale to a brooding work.
The concert’s centrepiece however, will be Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, perhaps the composer’s most famous, and well liked work. Written in 1934, it presents 24 variations on composer Paganini’s piece ‘Caprice 24 for Solo Violin’. Rachmaninoff employs his full compositional arsenal for the work which displays lively musical excitement alongside heartfelt, tender Romantic music. Variation 18 is the most known and most exquisite. Worth the ticket for this alone.