Klaus Mäkelä And Rachmaninoff by Prokofiev, Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, Ó (2024/2024), Seoltóir Klaus Mäkelä, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Since her first appearance in 2001, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili has always given performances to look forward to. She now returns to perform as soloist in Prokofiev’s delightfully melodious Second Violin Concerto. Klaus Mäkelä has paired it with Rachmaninoff’s irresistible Second Symphony, a work with which the composer avenged the failure of his First. And how! The melancholy theme of the second movement has brought tears to the eyes of many since the 1908 premiere, and will always continue to do so. Also on the programme is a surprise: a newly commissioned work by the American composer Ellen Reid to mark her residency at the Concertgebouw and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 2023–24 season. Audiences have come to know her as a musical jack-of-all-trades, who moves effortlessly across a wide range of disparate styles and genres – from classical to avant-garde pop and electronic soundscapes. This should be interesting!