Plamena Mangova, piano, Bulgaria

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Andris Poga

Programme: Modest Mussorgsky’s St. John’s Eve on Bald Mountain (the original version); Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major; Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.

Perfectionist that he was, Rimsky-Korsakov loved polished musical scores, and, as he saw it, his friend Modest Mussorgsky’s rough-textured pieces were crying out for a bit of smoothing. Except ‒ what you get when you polish Mussorgsky’s music is not really Mussorgsky any more. And that is why LNSO is going to perform Modest Petrovich’s Night at the Bald Mountain liberated from the layer of Rimsky-Korsakov’s varnish, and it is going to be a powerful experience. It will be followed by Ravel’s lively piano concerto (for both hands) with its ethereally beautiful slow movement and the sweeping embodiment of the exiled Rachmaninoff’s longing for his homeland ‒ his Symphonic Dances.

At 18:00

INTRODUCTORY TALK

An opportunity to learn more about the musical pieces featured in the programme and their interpretation. The conversation is mediated by the Klasika Radio presenter, musicologist Orests Silabriedis.