Inon Barnatan Photo: Marco Borggreve
World-renowned Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan will return to perform with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra for its second concert of the Russian Winter Festival at the Ohio Theatre. The ticketed concert will be held on Friday, Jan. 21 and Saturday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m.
Bulgarian director Rossen Milanov will conduct Russian Winter Festival II: Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff. The concert will feature Russian composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
“There is an opportunity to come and experience a full work of this composer’s, a full spectrum of emotional peaks and highs and valleys and its richness of what the music brings to our life in a concert setting,” Milanov says.
Columbus Symphony Orchestra kicked off their 7th annual Russian Winter Festival on Jan. 7-8 at the Ohio Theatre with a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (McPhee) and Modest Mussorgsky and Maurice Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Milanov says he was delighted to see a large, lively crowd of all ages coming to enjoy the symphony’s first performance of the festival.
“It was just amazing to hear people screaming and whistling and shouting 'bravo!' and it was just a great experience. It really put a smile on my face and my colleagues in the orchestra,” Milanov says.
Barnatan previously performed with the symphony in 2018 for their sold-out showcasing of Beethoven Concertos. This time Barnatan is returning to play the formidable and intricate Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
“We also call it the Mount Everest of the piano concerto,” Milanov says.
Milanov will hold a brief pre-concert discussion for concert-goers held near the Main Stage starting an hour before each show.
The Columbus Symphony will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test taken in the last 72 hours or a negative rapid antigen test taken in the last 24 hours before entering the building. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in-person at the CBUSArts Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.columbussymphony.com or by phone at (614) 469-0939.
Masie Fitzmaurice is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feeback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
