Víkingur plays Schumann’s A Minor

Víkingur plays Schumann’s A Minor

Grieghallen

Before it was re-named Symphonic Dances, Rachmaninov’s last orchestral work was titled Fantastic Dances.

Perhaps the word ‘fantastic’ better captures the hypnotic atmosphere, nervous energy and devilish cunning of the Russian composer’s toe-tapping final masterpiece. Rachmaninov believed it his greatest work. ‘I don’t know how it happened,’ he admitted; ‘it must have been my last spark.’ Either way, this firework of a piece ensured Rachmaninov’s compositional career went off with a bang.

To open, Edward Gardner conducts another wry take on the dance. In La valse, Ravel sabotages a Viennese waltz, forcing it to dance helplessly towards its own destruction in a compelling piece of orchestral theatre.

In between these wickedly exciting works from Rachmaninov and Ravel we welcome superstar pianist Víkingur Ólafsson back to the Grieg Hall. He brings with him Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, the genteel but emotionally complex work that famously formed the model for the piano concerto by our own Edvard Grieg.