Denis Matsuev, born in 1975, is the embodiment of triumphant and unbridled musical power. He also has an imposing physical presence and professes to be an enthusiastic sportsman who pays little heed to preserving his physical well-being while playing soccer and ice hockey. He's already broken his hand on two occasions. His piano playing remains monumental and boundless. His musical gestures are laden with enormous emotion, but he can also play with remarkable tenderness. He is most at home with his Russian repertoire, faithfully performing the works of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninoff.
On this occasion, we'll hear him play Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, a special composition completed in 1913, which is said to have been born, died and risen like a phoenix. The manuscript for the piece was destroyed during the Russian Revolution, but Prokofiev rewrote it from memory in 1923. The composition's technical demands also set it apart: even some of the most celebrated virtuosos do not dare to perform it due to its fiendish difficulty.
The concert's two orchestral pieces, Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6, are two treasures we rarely encounter. Conducting the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra on this night will be Alexander Sladkovsky who, like Matsuev, brings his message from a faraway land: the former student of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory now heads the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest