Mikhail Pletnev Plays Saint-Saëns

The 9th Grand Festival of the Russian National Orchestra. It was a remarkable evening on at least two counts. First, because the works by Prokofiev (Dreams) and Lyatoshinsky (Symphony No. 3) are rarely performed works from the twentieth century, and secondly because Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto featured Mikhail Pletnev as soloist. Pletnev was Gold Medal and First Prize winner of the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, a prize that earned him early recognition worldwide. Kirill Karabits, music director of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar and Chief Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, took the podium for the concert.