The Rite of Spring

Since winning the extremely prestigious Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2021, Canadian pianist Bruce Liu has performed on major concert stages worldwide. And he has been incredibly well-received by audiences and the music press alike. He also has not only mastered Chopin.

We hear him perform Serge Rachmaninoff’s breathtakingly beautiful Piano Concerto No. 2 –  perhaps one of the most beloved of all romantic piano concertos. This music is full of passion, longing and romance, but also comfort and serenity. This concerto replaces the previously announced Piano Concerto No. 1 by Tchaikovsky.  

We hear another kind of Russian music in Stravinsky’s ground-breaking ballet, the Rite of Spring. Its 1913 world premiere in Paris is one of the most spectacular scandals in music history. The audience booed and shrieked; Stravinsky was furious and left the venue. No, artistic innovation is not always received with open arms, but as everything matures with time, music that was initially met with resistance can evolve into a revered part of the repertoire – as with the Rite of Spring, a modern classic.

This guest performance by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra is led by the orchestra’s chief conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.