NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Semyon Bychkov

Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in B flat minor is world famous. His Second Piano Concerto, on the other hand, is performed much more rarely and is a true revelation, as Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein now demonstrates in a guest performance with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. Maestro Semyon Bychkov then shows that there is more thrilling music on the score to the left and right of the timeless beauty of »Vlatva« in Bedřich Smetana’s cycle »My Fatherland«. The new principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic thereby starts his tenure on a very Czech note. After all, Smetana’s cycle is deeply embedded in the country’s cultural identity: the opening chords of »Vyšehrad«, for example, are still used as an intermission signal by the Czech cultural radio station »Vltava«.