Russian pianist Igor Chystokletov will perform virtuoso works by Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian and Rachmaninoff at the HCM City Opera House tonight. Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM CITY Russian pianist Igor Chystokletov will perform famous works by Russian composers Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian and Rachmaninoff at the HCM City Opera House tonight (July 27).

The highlight of the night will be Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 which was written in 1888, 10 years after he completed his Symphony Number 4.

The work was first performed by the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Tchaikovsky conducting at the city's Mariinsky Theatre in November 1988.

The programme will include the Adagio from Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus.

The ballet was composed in 1954 and awarded the Lenin Prize at the same year. It tells the life of Spartacus, the leader of a slave uprising against the Romans.

The work was first staged by the Kirov Ballet in 1956 in Leningrad.

Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini will be featured in the show.

The composition, written in 1934, is a set of 24 variations for piano and orchestra with the 24th variation setting for solo violin.

It premiered in November 1934 at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore in the US. The performance featured the Philadelphia Orchestra and Rachmaninoff as a piano soloist.

Chystokletov will perform along with the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera’s (HBSO) symphony orchestra conducted by Trần Nhật Minh, who has a Master's of Music in conducting from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Chystokletov, who began performing at aged 8, won first prize at the National Professional Piano Competition in Russia in 1984 and at the Lom Music Festival in Bulgaria in 1988.

He graduated from the Odessa State Conservatory of Music in Ukraine with a Master's of Fine Arts degree in 1994.

After graduation, he was a teacher of piano at the Ho Chi Minh Conservatory of Music until 1999.

He has performed with prestigious orchestras in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Việt Nam.

The performance will begin at 8pm at the Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue’s box office and at www.tickebox.vn. VNS