Riccardo Chailly conducts Scriabin and Rachmaninov — With Lukas Sternath

Maestro Riccardo Chailly continues his exploration of Sergei Rachmaninov's works at the Lucerne Festival in this thrilling concert from the 2026 edition, joined by up-and-coming star pianist Lukas Sternath for the spectacular Piano Concerto No. 4! Rachmaninov wrote his final piano concerto (the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini notwithstanding) after he had emigrated to the United States, and the piece reflects the changing musical landscape of the 1920s, weaving elements of jazz and Impressionism through three movements of kaleidoscoping virtuosity and poignant lyricism. Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra also perform four symphonic movements from Rachmaninov's youthful opera Aleko, as well as the orchestrations of five of his ingeniously structured Études-Tableaux by Ottorino Respighi, who asked and enthusiastically received Rachmaninov's permission to arrange them. The program opens with the plaintive and delicate Rêverie by Alexander Scriabin, the composer's first orchestral work, composed in secret and personally approved by Rimsky-Korsakov before reaching a broader public.

Photo © Julia Wesely