For the author of these lines there isn’t a more beautiful concert than Rachmaninov’s Piano concerto ¹2.  There is one fact about it, which probably escaped public attention: the concert, written in 1900 and first performed by the composer himself with orchestra on October 27, 1901 in Moscow was dedicated to Nikolai Dahl. Dahl was a Russian psychotherapist, graduate of medical school of Moscow university that underwent an internship with some of the greatest specialists of 19th century that specialized in hypnotherapy: Jean Martin Charcot in Paris and Ambroise-Auguste Liebeault in Nancy.

Amongst Dahls patients were Chaliapin, Skryabin, Stanislavsky, as well as Sergey Rachmaninov that suffered from severe depression after his 1st Symphony’s failure and due to the churchly ban on marrying his lover.  Apparently, Rachmaninov was pleased with his clinician; otherwise he probably wouldn’t have dedicated a concert to him.

In 35 minutes, the duration of this great and wonderful work, an attentive and receptive listener takes to heart composer’s pain and suffering, his anxiety that is emphasized by the chimes, deep reservations and fearful glimpses of hope. This concert is much sought after not only by performers but also filmmakers.  Bear that in mind if you were ever to rewatch Konchalovsky’s “Paradise”, Lungin’s “Lilacs”, the classic “Spring on Zarechnaya Street” (the main character is listening to the concert on the radio), Claude Lelouch’s “Man and Woman”, as well as “Bingo Bongo”, featuring Adriano Celentano and even the cartoon “Piggy bank” (performed by Sviatoslav Richter). The fact that Erich Karmen’s “All by Myself” melody from Bridget Jones’s Diaries is practically borrowed from the second part of the concert was discussed earlier. If the listener’s soul doesn’t twist and turn perhaps the performer wasn’t able to deliver the composer’s intention. We truly hope that this won’t happen.

Sergey Redkin will perform together with Yuri Temirkanov and his orchestra in Lucerne. Maestro and the young musician, who has received Maestro Temirkanov Foundation prize, as one of the top graduates of the Secondary Special Music School of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory will come together on stage for the first time ever and we will be witnessing the premier. Sergey was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1991. He started playing piano at the age of five, and was admitted to the Saint-Petersburg Musical Lyceum, the class of Galina Boguslavskaya, while studying composition and improvisation at the same time with Edward Markaich. Becoming the laureate of Gavrilin’s composers’ competition in St. Petersburg in 2004, he continued his education at the Secondary Special Music School of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Olga Kurnavina’s class. All the first great victories at the young performers’ competitions belonged to this period: the First prize at the Rachmaninov’s competition (St. Petersburg, 2005), Grand Prix at Chopin’s competition (Narva, Estonia, 2006). Concurrently, Sergey studied composition in professor’s Alexander Mnacakanyan’s class, one of the last students of Dmitry Shostakovich. The Suite for Cello and Piano brought Sergey his First prize at the composers’ competition in St. Petersburg in 2007. In 2009 Sergey became professor’s Alexander Sandper’s student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In 2011, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Music House, Sergey completed internship at the International Piano Academy on Lake Como (Italy) alongside famous musicians, such as: William Grant-Nabore, Dmitry Bashkirov, Peter Frankl, Fu Tsong. Sergey became the winner of the III International Maj Lind competition in Helsinki in 2012 and the winner of the VI International Prokofiev competition in Saint-Petersburg in 2013.  In 2015, he received the Third prize and the Bronze medal at the XV International Tchaikovsky competition.