Alexander Gavrylyuk Joins Sydney Symphony This November

Internationally-acclaimed, Ukrainian-Australian pianist, Alexander Gavrylyuk will take on a giant of the piano repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1, this November. 

Alexander Gavrylyuk Performs Tchaikovsky (1-4 November) in four special performances of Tchaikovsky’s beloved work at the Sydney Opera House, in collaboration with Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Limelight proclaimed Gavrylyuk as “easily, the most compelling pianist of his generation” after his 2017 BBC Proms debut. Born in Ukraine in 1984, Gavrylyuk gave his first concerto performance at only 9 years old, before moving to Sydney on a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Music aged 13. His celebrated artistry has led Gavrylyuk to perform with the world’s finest orchestras from the New York Philharmonic to the Royal Concertgebouw. In collaboration with former Sydney Symphony Principal Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Gavrylyuk is best known by Sydney audiences for his critically-acclaimed 2011 recordings of  a selection of Prokofiev’s concertos. 

Returning to the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall stage, Gavrylyuk will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 – a notoriously virtuosic composition and among the best known of all piano repertoire. Originally composed in 1874 for his Moscow Conservatory colleague, Nikolay Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to German pianist Hans von Bülow, after the former complained the concerto was “worthless, unplayable… so badly written [its passages] were beyond rescue”. Following its 1875 Boston premiere, the work’s sweeping drama, delicate introspection, and powerful displays of emotions have won over audiences across the world. 

Also featuring in the program is Henri Dutilleux’s Métaboles and Debussy’s Images for orchestra. A renowned perfectionist, Métaboles is a prime example of Dutilleux’s genius and precision as a composer. Written over five years to mark the Cleveland Orchestra’s 40th anniversary in 1959, the work experiments with new structures to create a spellbinding soundworld inspired by poets like Baudelaire and artists like Vincent van Gogh.

Debussy’s Images for orchestra (1912), is his final work for orchestra. The composer paints a series of beautifully rendered impressionist visions of England, Spain, and France at the dawn of the 20th century, inviting audiences to experience the bustling streets and undulating landscapes for themselves. 

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