Russian soundscapes between tradition, new beginnings and farewells: in this concert evening, the Nuremberg State Philharmonic dedicates itself to the musical identity of three composers who mediated between East and West in their very own way.

Mikhail Glinka opens the program with the energetic overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla - a work that sparkles with temperament and at the same time is firmly rooted in the Western European orchestral tradition. Glinka is regarded as the founder of Russian national music, but his best-known opera already refers to the style of those "Westerners" to whom Tchaikovsky was later also counted.

The centerpiece of the evening comes from this very composer: Symphony No. 6, the so-called Pathétique. It is Tchaikovsky's last work - a deeply personal, emotionally charged legacy that oscillates between tender melancholy and stirring despair. The "Pathétique" sounds like an intimate farewell to the world, full of unfulfilled longings, suppressed strength and emotional depth. Sergei Prokofiev's 1st Violin Concerto, which the composer wrote before his emigration to the West, stands in between. The work already shows the characteristic balancing act between avant-garde modernism and the search for melodic clarity - Prokofiev's idea of a "new simplicity". Virtuosic, playful and at the same time profound, it challenges soloists and audiences alike.

A concert evening full of contrasts and tonal colors that shows Russian music history in motion - between tradition, rupture and the everlasting desire for expression.
January 16, 2026