Elégie – Rachmaninov: A Heart in Exile by Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, ig. 26 aza. 2023, Noiztik (2023/2023), Milton Court Concert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Pianist Lucy Parham, known internationally for her Composer Portraits in words and music, and Sir Simon Russell Beale present Elégie to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rachmaninov. Elégie chronicles the life of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov. Though he became an exile in 1917, Russia remained deeply rooted in his soul. His cultural identity and his longing for his homeland imbue his music, not least the many much-loved works he wrote for his own instrument, the piano. The narrative, scripted from letters and diaries, follows Rachmaninov from his youth in Russia, through his subsequent self-imposed exile in 1917 and finally to California USA, where he died in 1943. In this concert celebrated Guildhall alumni Lucy Parham and Sir Simon Russell Beale join forces to explore many of Rachmaninov’s best-loved works for solo piano, including a selection of Preludes, Etudes-Tableaux and Moments Musicaux, some of his own transcriptions and the haunting Elégie, as well as works by Scriabin and Tchaikovsky.