Soloist: Tatyana Polianskaya, piano

Stravinsky Firebird

Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 2 in F

Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 in B minor

The second Russian orchestra in the series is the Russian State Philharmonic under their Principal Conductor, Valery Poliansky, with a superb all-Russian programme. They are joined by another Russian, Tatyana Polianskaya, playing Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto, written in 1957 as a birthday gift for the composer's 19-year-old Maxim, the now internationally renowned conductor and pianist. The piece is full of a light-hearted energy that may owe as much to the composer's relief at the demise of Stalin as to his cheerful wishes for his son.

Stravinsky's Firebird offers a dazzling display of the young composer's genius. A more 'traditional' work than the later innovative ballets, Rite of Spring and Petrushka, it shows the influence of bothe Rimsky-Korsakov, in its brilliant orchestral colouring, and Debussy, in its impressionistic qualities.

Tchaikovsky's 6th and last symphony, the 'Pathétique' is quite simply a beautiful work, albeit one work suffused with melancholy. Its four movements take us on a journey through passion, love, disappointment and, in its finale, death - foreshadowing the composer's own death only nine days after the first performance in October 1893.

PRE-CONCERT TALKS
Why not join music writer and critic James Day for fascinating and informative talks about the programme before each concert. Talk will take place at the Maple Suite, Crowne Plaza Hotel, 20 Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DT at 6.00pm