When Denis Matsuev made his Chicago-area debut at Ravinia in 2008, he left audiences speechless—but their applauding hands and stamping feet said everything that needed to be said. Matsuev is the new master of the Rachmaninoff repertoire, and he returns to Ravinia for an all-Rachmaninoff evening with the CSO featuring one of the most popular piano concertos of all time.
 
Standing as a towering musical achievement is Rachmaninoff’s first symphony, unfairly tarnished by a weak opening-night performance that was no fault of the music’s. The piece has been re-embraced as a tragic and heroic expression of romanticism in music.
 
Rachmaninoff:    Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 13
                         Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18