Composer: Pletnev, Mikhail (*1957)
Opus: Rachmaniana – Premiere
Scoring: Orchestra
Orchestra: Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
Conductor: Mikhail Pletnev
Location: Elbphilharmonie – Großer Saal (Hamburg/Germany)
Date: 18.01.2026 (11:00)
Location: Elbphilharmonie – Großer Saal (Hamburg/Germany)
Date: 19.01.2026 (20:00)
Critical Acclaim (Pletnev: Rachmaniana)
»One knows him less as a conductor or composer: one of the most distinguished and sensitive pianists, the Russian Mikhail Pletnev. Now, at the fifth season concert of the Philharmonic State Orchestra, he demonstrated that – whether as pianist, conductor, or composer – he is an artist who penetrates music with precision, probing colors, harmonies, and structures to their very core. This entirely Russian-oriented programme came across as vivid and highly focused. […] For ZeitSpiel Five, Mikhail Pletnev wrote Rachmaniana, an eight-movement suite with atmospheric, introverted movements – mood pictures that can also swell opulently or become rhythmically striking. In Rachmaniana, Pletnev remains close to his model, but the rhythm is seasoned with a kind of “pinch” of Shostakovich. It is effective, deeply moving music, wonderfully colorful in its orchestration – simply right on the mark. As a composer, Pletnev may not be a revolutionary, but he is a master craftsman.«
Elisabeth Richter: Elbphilharmonie: Rachmaninows Raritäten und ein Pianist, der dirigiert, 19.01.2026