BSO: Piano Pyrotechnics

Name: BSO: Piano Pyrotechnics
Start: 2026-01-22T19:00:00+00:00
Location: Guildhall Square, PO1 2AB Portsmouth, United Kingdom

Schedule

Thu, 22 Jan, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Guildhall Square, PO1 2AB Portsmouth, United Kingdom | Portsmouth, EN

Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from Eugene Onegin is probably the greatest concert example of this dance ever written. Generally stately, this one has flair, with large orchestral gestures and the kind of catchy tune that sticks in the mind for ages. Chopin’s gift for melody absolutely shines throughout his First Piano Concerto, which established him as a talent to be watched and launched his international fame.
It opens with a grand orchestral sweep before the piano enters with a dazzling display of technical virtuosity, culminating in a race to the end with a series of blazing scales and arpeggios both enthralling and exhausting. Mendelssohn’s impressions of the “comfortless, inhospitable solitude” of a Scottish walking holiday were the inspiration behind this stirring symphony, dedicated to Queen Victoria. Its haunting recurring theme came to the young composer as he explored the ruined chapel at Holyrood Palace.
Tchaikovsky – Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
Chopin – Piano Concerto No.1
Mendelssohn – Symphony No.3 ‘Scottish’
Marta Gardolińska – Conductor
Vadym Kholodenko – Piano