Russian National Orchestra: Budapest Spring Festival

About the Event

Enjoy this magnificant concert with the Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev, and Nikolai Lugansky at the Budapest Spring Festival.

The unique programme of the Russian National Orchestra consists of two fine pieces by two young composer‐pianists who started out together at the very end of the 19th century, but were to travel very different roads. The first version of the piano concerto in F sharp minor that Rachmaninoff wrote in 1892 was openly following the example of Grieg’s popular concerto, and the influence of the model can still be felt in the revision, made much later. But it is also a composition of original invention, well worth exploring, as proven repeatedly by Nikolai Lugansky, who will no doubt offer the evidence again. Similarly exciting is Scriabin’s Symphony No. 1, which was finished in 1900 and is youthfully vigorous in its monumentality and aspirations. The guidance through this six‐movement piece, which also employs a choir and a solo singer in the finale, will be provided by Mikhail Pletnov and his orchestra.

The world‐famous ensemble was founded by Pletnov in 1990, and is unique among Russian orchestras in that it receives no support from the state, relying solely on private funding and donations. Known formerly as an extraordinary pianist, Pletnov assumes an active role in the cultural life of Russia. His orchestra has been recording Shostakovich’s complete symphonies for years now, and the records already published are considered by many in the profession to constitute the best and most exciting Shostakovich series to date.