For his return to the Orchestra's podium, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian explores some of the most compelling and contrasting masterpieces of the Russian repertoire. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 unfolds with passionate lyricism in a thrilling dialogue between soloist and orchestra. At the piano is Alexandra Dovgan, one of the brightest young stars of the international concert scene and Artist in Residence for the 2026/27 Season. Alongside this iconic concerto, the evocative orchestral excerpts from Khachaturian's Spartacus and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 reveal a twentieth-century musical landscape where tension alternates with wit, exuberance with irony.