Elim Chan and Seong-Jin Cho
In his Second Piano Concerto, Sergei Prokofiev created a work brimming with raw energy and mystical moments – and one of the most challenging compositions of its kind. It is the perfect vehicle for Seong-Jin Cho, whose playing combines virtuosity with subtlety. Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra has a propulsive quality, containing elements of Masurian folk music. Elim Chan makes her conducting debut, opening the programme with Sofia Gubaidulina’s humorous Fairy Tale Poem.
This concert features a conducting debut and a performance by a former Berliner Philharmoniker Artist in Residence: Elim Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, has been appointed chief conductor of the renowned San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for the 2027/28 season, following positions in Scotland and Antwerp. Here, following works by Liszt, Ravel, Shostakovich and Beethoven with the Philharmoniker, Seong-Jin Cho performs a Prokofiev piano concerto with the orchestra for the first time.
Speaking about the concept behind her Fairytale Poem, written in 1971, Sofia Gubaidulina said, the “main character is a small piece of chalk” that dreams of drawing “marvellous castles, beautiful gardens with pavilions and the sea”. Through evocative sound effects and dazzling timbres, Gubaidulina created a particularly striking work.
Sergei Prokofiev was just 22 years old when he premiered his Second Piano Concerto in 1913 – and drew angry protests from critics and the audience alike. To modern ears, the work captivates with its contrasting moods: the composer’s characteristic, masterful unleashing of exhilarating bursts of energy stands alongside deeply melancholic passages. These can be understood as a reaction to the suicide of a close friend, who was the dedicatee of the Russian composer’s concerto.
Like many composers, Witold Lutosławski also distanced himself from an early work because its success eclipsed his later pieces. In the years following the premiere of his Concerto for Orchestra in 1954, the Polish composer modernised his musical language through the use of elements of chance. Fortunately, Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra nevertheless established itself as a popular showpiece in the repertoire, thanks to its rhythmic sophistication, folkloric echoes and references to Baroque forms such as the passacaglia and toccata.
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