Russian prodigy Alexander Malofeev joins Kristjan Järvi and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic for a concert of folk music-inspired works by Pärt, Rachmaninov, and Stravinsky, live from this year's Rheingau Musik Festival at the Friedrich-von-Thiersch Hall (Wies­baden, Germany).

The program opens with Pärt's Swansong, a con­tem­pla­tive orchestral hymn composed in honor of the 200^th birthday of the 19^th-century theologian, poet, and thinker Cardinal John Henry Newman. Originally conceived as a choral work with organ ac­com­pa­ni­ment, the orchestral version premiered in 2013. 15-year-old Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev then takes the stage for Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2, music by a composer Malofeev holds particularly dear: "Rachmaninov is one of my favorite composers, and the Second Piano Concerto expresses his Russian soul. I’ve been dreaming about playing this music for a long time."

The concert culminates with a per­for­mance of the 1945 orchestral suite version of Stravinsky's The Firebird. An incredible feature of this performance: the orchestra will play the work entirely from memory! As Järvi puts it, "performing The Firebird from memory is all about chemistry and com­mu­ni­ca­tion. It should feel like the players are im­pro­vis­ing music that they have known for a long time."

Arvo Pärt
Swansong (Littlemore Tractus) for orchestra

Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird

Baltic Sea Philharmonic
Kristjan Järvi, conductor
Alexander Malofeev, piano