New York, NY (Top40 Charts) As one of the nation's most innovative performing arts organizations, the Richmond Symphony could have no more fitting celebration for its 2022 season than its Masterworks presentation of "Ravishing Rachmaninoff" - the deep and intense experience of "Rach 2," Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. The performance, conducted by
Music Director Valentina Peleggi and featuring famed rising pianist
George Li, will take place on Saturday, February 26, 2022, at the Dominion Event Center, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Tickets are available here.
In an evening that is sure to inspire, the performance will also include the defiant Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, also conducted by Valentina Peleggi.
The presentation of Russian composer
Sergio Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto - the famous (and infamous) "Rach 2" in the coming Masterworks event, carries deep significance in the world of music as it marks the composer's re-emergence and victory after a period of depression that had nearly ended his music career. When critics derided his first concerto, Rachmaninoff's self-doubt became so deep he abandoned his music for several years. After extended therapy that even included hypnosis, "Rach 2" was the emphatic and victorious return that established Rachmaninoff's fame and ensured his legacy as one of his most enduringly popular works.
The Second Piano Concerto will be played by the award-winning
George Li, age 26, who has been praised as a "powerhouse" by the NY Times and lauded by the Washington Post for his combination of "staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression."
The Concerto will be conducted by the renowned Valentina Peleggi, who began her tenure as
Music Director of the Richmond Symphony in Summer 2020. Described by the BBC
Music Magazine as a "rising star', Peleggi has led orchestras from around the world including, most recently, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC
National Orchestra of Wales and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Interestingly, Peleggi's rising fame is significant as well in that her role as one of the world's leading conductors represents a breakthrough in an arena that even now continues to be predominantly dominated by males.
In many respects, the February 26 event represents a celebration of victory for the Richmond Symphony as well. By design, the organization's dedication to enriching and changing lives with the power of music was put to the ultimate test during the seasons of 2020 and 2021. With a strong desire to increase its commitment to diversity, the organization's leadership acquired two female leaders in 2019 and three in 2020 (including the appointment of Peleggi), which coincidentally has resulted in an organization whose leadership is predominantly female.
As the COVID pandemic limited the possibilities for live performance for a time, the organization made the strategic decision to not lay off any of the musicians or staff. Instead, the Symphony leaned more deeply into innovation on the ways to enrich community members of all ages through music, regardless of their prior exposure or interest in classical music. The results have been astonishingly positive, and now continue even as the viability of centralized live performances returns.
In every aspect, "Ravishing Rachmaninoff" promises to be a celebration of victory and perhaps a higher bar of success in its intensity, its vibrance and even its defiance of the forces that have muted much of the expression of symphony performance during the prior two years.
"Our coming performance is also a coming out, on many levels," says Lacey Huszcza, the Symphony's Executive
Director since December 2020. "We are beyond excited to share this experience with the Richmond community on February 26 and throughout the 2022 year's events and beyond."
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Every season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy the symphony's concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs.
During and beyond the COVID pandemic, the Richmond Symphony has taken great strides as a forward-thinking and innovative organizations that is redefining music performance to include new and immersive experiences. These new realms make musical experience available to a much broader audience that spans most all demographics. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the
National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit RichmondSymphony.com.
