Orpheus with Khatia Buniatishvili, piano

Haydn’s Symphony No. 1 opens the program with an irresistible burst of youthful energy. Mozart’s stormy Piano Concerto No. 20 follows, performed by Khatia Buniatishvili, “one of today’s most technically gifted young pianists” (Gramophone) in her Orpheus debut. Continuing a theme of musical influence, Arensky’s Variations, written in honor of his cherished mentor Tchaikovsky, is hymn-like and reverent, followed by a new arrangement commissioned by Orpheus of Rachmaninoff’s powerful and grandiose Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos.