2018 marks 100 years of Polish independence, and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal joined the celebration with a program highlighting the pianistic masterpieces of one of Poland’s favorite native sons, Chopin! Charles Richard-Hamelin—French Canadian pianist and winner of the 2015 Frédéric Chopin International Competition—joins the OSM under the baton of Kent Nagano for the Chopin’s First and Second Piano Concertos.

Written between 1829 and 1830 by the 20-year-old pianist-composer, these two works have become as renowned for their sheer beauty as they are for their technical difficulty, making a performance of them both in one evening a rare event! The program is rounded off with Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz. 106, one of his best-known compositions commissioned by Paul Sacher to honor the Basler Kammerorchester’s 10th anniversary in 1936.

Photo: © Antoine Saito