Concerto for the left hand
Mägi, Ravel and Rachmaninoff – with French conductor Lionel Bringuier and Russian piano soloist Denis Kozhukhin.
About the video
- Published online 23 January 2022.
- From a livestream 13 January 2022.
- The video is approximately one hour and 30 minutes.
- Subtitles in English and Swedish is activated by using the CC control in the video player.
Pianist Denis Kozhukhin combines technical skill, a mature musicality, and the ability to reach the audience through music. This is also why he is in unbelievably high demand as a concert pianist. He first performed with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017, when he played Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto.
Here, he is the soloist in Ravel’s celebrated concerto for left hand, composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I. Wittgenstein developed a phenomenal technique with his left hand and commissioned works by numerous composers, including Richard Strauss, Benjamin Britten and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Before the Ravel concerto, we hear a piece by Estonian Ester Mägi, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 99. Her music has garnered increasing international attention. Vesper for String Orchestra was composed in 1990 (revised in 1998) and is a tender-hearted and melodic piece of music. As is often the case in her work, one detects the inspiration of folk music.
French conductor Lionel Bringuier made his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at this concert. He presently serves as Artiste Associé in his home town Nice with Opéra de Nice.
Bringuier conducts the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3. The third symphony begins with a melodic signature that recurs in various forms through each movement. The music bears many of Rachmaninoff’s musical traits, such as heartfelt melodies, powerful intensification and romantic passion.
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The music
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Ester Mägi Vesper for string orchestra
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Maurice Ravel Piano Concerto for left hand
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Encore: Edvard Grieg An den Frühling ’’To Spring’’ for piano op 43:6
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Interview with Denis Kozhukhin
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Serge Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3
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Participants
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Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
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Lionel Bringuier conductor
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Denis Kozhukhin piano
