The Atlanta Symphony's Opening Weekend
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Robert Spano start their hotly anticipated 74th season as they mean to go on with a rousing opening weekend program. Things kick off with special guest performer Kirill Gerstein at the keys during Rachmaninov's beloved Concerto No. 2, a virtuosic and lyrical tour de force for piano and orchestra that is widely regarded as one of the greatest piano concertos ever written. Gerstein's powerful key touch and dynamic pianism should prove the perfect match for its demanding solos and virtuosic technique.
The evening rounds off in true powerhouse style with Tchaikovsky's towering Fifth Symphony. Written in 1888, ten years after his fourth, Tchaikovsky poured heart and soul into the epic work, but it received a muted reaction from audiences and critics. It was only after his death that the symphony grew in popularity to become one of his most favoured works, thanks to its powerful evocations of its fate motif and heroic, cobweb-clearing climax.