Riccardo Chailly to conduct Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Rachmaninoff programme

This coming 1 April will mark 150 years since Serge Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was born. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is seizing this opportunity to perform two of his works with conductor emeritus Riccardo Chailly in four concerts on Wednesday 8, Thursday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 12 March. On the programme are Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1, preceded by his Piano Concerto No. 2, with soloist Mao Fujita.   

For the young Japanese pianist, this is both his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and his first time playing in The Concertgebouw. Since winning multiple prizes in 2017 during the prestigious Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Switzerland, followed by second prize in the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition, he’s been considered one of the world’s most promising talents.  

  

Rachmaninoff and the Concertgebouw Orchestra  

Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 was only rediscovered and reconstructed in the 1940s – after the composer’s death – but since then it has been recognised as a superbly dramatic work. The withering reviews following the piece’s premiere in 1897 sent the still-young Rachmaninoff into a severe depression that would last three years. His recovery was partly due to the enthusiastic reception of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1901. He enjoyed a long and very successful career as a pianist, composer and conductor, and travelled widely including to Amsterdam.

Altogether, Rachmaninoff performed in fifteen concerts with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, which contributed greatly to both the orchestra’s and The Concertgebouw’s prestige. Their association dates back to 1908, when Rachmaninoff was the soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 2. In 1911 he returned with Piano Concerto No. 3. He was so impressed with the rendition of his Symphony No. 2 by conductor Willem Mengelberg and the orchestra that he dedicated The Bells (1913) to them. In 1929 Rachmaninoff and the Concertgebouw Orchestra gave more performances of his Piano Concerto No. 2 and in 1930 his Piano Concerto No. 4, followed by the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in 1938. Their next performance together was not to be; in 1939 the Second World War broke out, and Rachmaninoff died in 1943.