Yuri Temirkanov conducts Prokofiev and Bruckner – With Denis Matsuev

For this final evening they wish to present a programme dedicated to Sergei Prokofiev and Anton Bruckner.

Since his victory at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998, Denis Matsuev has become a favourite at the top international venues. With 180 engagements a year, the pianist incarnates the great Russian pianistic tradition and takes every opportunity to play works from the repertoire of his native country, so dear to his heart. Yuri Temirkanov was first director and conductor of the Kirov (formerly Mariinsky) and assistant to Yevgeny Mravinsky, principal conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, before succeeding him in 1988. Today, he is invited all over the globe to direct the world's leading orchestras.

A master interpreter of Russian music, Denis Matsuev will apply his powers and virtuosity to the service of Prokofiev's most popular piano concerto, Concerto for piano No. 3. As well as its incredible speed, complexity and difficulty, the work is deeply impregnated with a Russian spirit.

Completed in 1921, the Concerto begins with a nostalgic melody for clarinets, evoking the Russia that Prokofiev had chosen to flee several years previously. This melody soon gives way to more playful rhythms. The second movement unveils a theme inspired by an old dance, which becomes the subject of five very contrasting variations. The lyricism of the last movement prefigures Prokofiev's future operas, and the Concerto draws to a close with an exuberant finale.

Photo: © Yannick Perrin.