Rachmaninoff 150th

​Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday is April 1st, and April’s NSO Showcase celebrates in a big way, with the composer’s towering masterpiece, the Piano Concerto No.3. This performance from November 2018 had Kennedy Center audiences and critics cheering. It was a double NSO debut—for Mexican conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto (Musical America named him Conductor of the Year the following year) and pianist Denis Kozhukhin, winner of the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Reviewers raved about a superb, breathtaking performance. As The Washington Post wrote: “What Kozhukhin offers is a 21st-century take on Russian fireworks, dazzling and strong yet emphasizing musicality over circus tricks, even in the astonishing cadenza.” Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and The Block by Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon round out the program.