Riccardo Frizza

An evening of passion, poetry and revolutionary power from the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – starring special guest Jeneba Kanneh-Mason in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto. Two chords ring out, and Ludwig van Beethoven transforms the face of Western music. Eroica means ‘heroic’, and Beethoven was inspired to write his explosive new symphony by the exploits of Napoleon Bonaparte. ‘If I understood war like I understand music, I would conquer him!’ he declared. Two centuries on, the ‘Eroica’ is the thrilling climax to a concert that positively buzzes with energy and colour – in other words, exactly what you’d expect from this great Hungarian orchestra and its dynamic Italian chief conductor Ricardo Frizza. First, though, they welcome a young British star – the dazzling Jeneba Kanneh-Mason – in Rachmaninov’s brooding Second Piano Concerto (think Brief Encounter) and share a gift from Hungary by Franz Liszt, a composer for whom the Devil really did have all the best tunes! ‘One of the nation’s finest young musicans’ (ClassicFM.com on Jeneba Kanneh-Mason) PROGRAMME Liszt Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 Beethoven Symphony No. 3, ‘Eroica’ PERFORMERS Riccardo Frizza conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason piano Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra