Santtu and Nikolai Lugansky

The Philharmonia and their Principal Conductor Santtu pull out all the stops in the finale of their 2024/25 season.

We’re joined by Nikolai Lugansky, the Russian prince of the piano, in Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto. One of the all-time great interpreters of Rachmaninov, renowned for his ‘quintessentially Russian sound’ (Independent), Lugansky understands this most challenging and rewarding of concertos inside out. All Rachmaninov’s trademarks are there: bittersweet melodies, pianistic fireworks, and lush orchestral writing.

Alborada del gracioso roughly translates as Dawn Song of the Jester. It’s a beguiling short piece with a Spanish flavour, complete with castanets, and a harp imitating the strumming of a guitar. La Valse is an altogether darker affair – Ravel’s deconstruction of a Viennese waltz is said to represent the cataclysmic impact of the First World War.

In Pines of Rome, Respighi uses a huge orchestra to paint four pictures of Rome in thrilling detail: the innocence of children playing, gloomy catacombs, a gentle nocturne, and finally a victorious Roman legion returning home, acclaimed by jubilant brass. Every member of the Philharmonia will be turning the dial up to 11 to bring their 2024/25 season to a roof-raising close.

‘Lugansky’s passion radiates, and his piano sings and thunders’ (Bachtrack).