Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky

This event is part of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's tour to Germany in May 2022.

Khatia Buniatishvili's performance of Tchaikovsky's Concert No.1 in December 2019 triggered veritable storms of enthusiasm among Munich audiences. The press was equally enthralled: the Abendzeitung praised the "hitherto unheard-of graceful turns", "wonderfully calm passages" and the "exuberant mood of optimism in the finale." The pianist's intimate relationship with the work – the first piano concerto she performed in public as an 18-year-old – was palpable.

Despite its difficult start, marked by a scathing review by the legendary piano virtuoso Nikolai Rubinstein, the work has undergone a remarkable transformation sinde its creation: today one of the world's most popular piano concertos, it is also the most frequently recorded of its genre. Hardly a music enthusiast is not familiar with its majestic overture: the piano, with powerful, sweeping chords, accompanying the orchestra's emotive  theme to immediately captivate the listener. In May, Khatia Buniatishvili will perform this work in Munich once again, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its newly appointed principal conductor Vasily Petrenko.