Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony

The music

Mozart Overture, Idomeneo, K366 (5’) Listen
Mozart Masonic Funeral Music, K477 (6’) Listen
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K503 (32’) Listen
Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 (60’) Listen

The performers

• Karina Canellakis conductor*
• Paul Lewis piano

The ultimate romantic symphony? Look no further than Rachmaninov's Second.

Storm-swept vistas, glowing colours, and melodies that sing straight from the heart … if you had to imagine the perfect Romantic orchestral work, it’d probably sound very like Rachmaninov’s epic Second Symphony. The LPO’s Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis never stints on the emotion, and tonight she’s paired Rachmaninov’s evergreen symphony with a multi-sided portrait of Mozart at his darkest, his sunniest, and his most gloriously dramatic. And what better soloist, in the sparkling Piano Concerto No. 25, than our great friend Paul Lewis – a pianist for whom Mozart’s music is always ‘alive with surprises’?

*Karina Canellakis’s position in the LPO is generously supported by Richard Buxton.