Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky with Vasily Petrenko

Vasily Petrenko leads the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in a full-blooded Russian programme: Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations, with cellist Alban Gerhardt as soloist, and Stravinsky's overwhelming Le sacre du printemps.

Vasily Petrenko conducting Stravinsky's Sacre

As a conductor you really have to know Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps by heart', Vasily Petrenko said in an interview. If only because halfway through, with all your sweat, you don't see much of the score anymore'. No matter how often Petrenko conducts Stravinsky's illustrious masterpiece, each time it touches him again. It is incredibly fresh and urgent. Today Petrenko is performing the work with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alban Gerhardt solo in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations

The expressive cellist Alban Gerhardt was called a true magician by Tagesspiegel when it comes to 'singing' playing. Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations seem to be made for him. They are a singing, light-hearted ode to Mozart and to the eighteenth century. Gerhardt plays them 'extremely elegantly and lyrically', according to The Guardian.