Yuri Temirkanov conductor
Denis Matsuev piano

TCHAIKOVSKY “Polonaise” from ‘Eugene Onegin’
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 3
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

Who better to conduct this evening of Russian Greats than Chief Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Yuri Temirkanov? Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto was originally written to showcase the composer’s own virtuosic talents yet the orchestra plays more than simply an accompanying role, climaxing in an explosive finale. In Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony the fate motif returns, but as with the Fourth Symphony the atmosphere lifts in the finale, this time to end with an optimistic triumphal march.

• 6.15pm FREE Pre-concert talk. Writer, lecturer and broadcaster David Nice introduces this evening’s repertoire