The seats at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall are empty, but you’re guaranteed the best view in the house as the formidable pianist Nikolai Lugansky brings you a soul-stirring live program: gorgeous works by César Franck, including Lugansky’s own arrangement of the Choral No. 2, and Beethoven’s fiery, ever-thrilling Appassionata Sonata. “Five or six years ago,” Lugansky recalls, “I couldn’t say that I loved Beethoven." But he has since become a great admirer and connoisseur: "Every year, I discover more layers of meaning in his music. It’s an incredibly rich world that shows how, even in the most tragic of situations, a person can still find the inner strength to go on, to follow their creative instincts, and to overcome catastrophe.”

Photo: Nikolai Lugansky © Jean-Baptiste Millot