Concertgebouw Orchestra Essentials: Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff

Torn from his Russian roots, Serge Rachmaninoff composed the Symphonic Dances in America, where he visited his childhood sweethearts again and banished his demons. As a composer, he took revenge on the critics. Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances are modern and classical, worldly and spiritual, nostalgic and, at the same time, astonishingly vital. The conductor is veteran Semyon Bychkov, like Rachmaninoff, a Russian who opted for the freedom of the West at an early age. This conductor will always have a special flair for Russian repertoire. Banishing demons celebrating life is exactly what Antonín Dvořák does in his Carnival overture, with which Semyon Bychkov opens the concert.

Essentials

At Essentials, you will be introduced to the masterpieces you must have heard, with an opinionated introduction by the Flemish presenter Thomas Vanderveken.