Rachmaninoff's challenging third concerto!

Russian pianist Nicolai Lugansky is tonight's special guest of the St. Louis Symphony, which has a special triple program that celebrates one of the most epic piano movements ever composed, Rachmaninoff's lush and engaging Piano Concerto No. 3 at its center. In addition to this piece, Silvestrov's Hymne 2001 and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra make up the rest of the evening's program, which will be conducted by John Storgards.

The Third Piano Concerto is known by reputation as being one of the most challenging piano concertos in standard classical music, but is also praised for its romantic musicality in the second act, followed by a lively conclusion. Composed in 1909 at his country estate, many contemporary pianists feared to perform it publicly due to its technical difficulty!