Pianist Lauren Zhang was 16 years old when she won 大象传媒 Young Musician in 2018 with a 鈥渄aring, gravity-defying鈥� performance that astonished critics and audience alike. Here she makes her first appearance with the 大象传媒 SSO under Mark Wigglesworth 鈥� the conductor of that prize-winnning performance 鈥� and she鈥檚 performing Rachmaninov鈥檚 epic Third Concerto: the so-called 鈥淓verest of piano concertos鈥�, and a work that demands poetry as well as breathtaking panache. It鈥檚 almost impossible to follow that, so Wigglesworth begins the concert with two gloriously imaginative orchestral works, both rooted in Russian tradition. Alissa Firsova is the daughter of two important Russian composers, and 鈥楧ie Windsbraut鈥� (鈥楾he Bride of the Wind鈥�) takes inspiration from a painting by Oscar Kokoschka to celebrate the passionate life of Alma Mahler 鈥� a musical evocation of the sumptuous, doomed world of fin-de-si猫cle Vienna. And Prokofiev originally planned his Seventh and final Symphony as a sort of musical fairytale for children. Rarely performed today, it casts a spell that goes far darker and deeper.
Prelude: 6.45pm in the Recital Room (free to ticket-holders, subject to seating availability): pianist Lauren Zhang and tonight's conductor Mark Wigglesworth in conversation with 大象传媒 SSO violinist Alex Gascoine.
The concert will be broadcast live on 大象传媒 Radio 3. The presenter is Kate Molleson.
