This preview has been provided by the North Carolina Symphony.

The North Carolina Symphony, led by Grant Llewellyn, will welcome pianist Yevgeny Sudbin as he performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Friday, Oct. 3, and Saturday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. in Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh.  The concert, which is part of the Symphony’s Raleigh 2014-15 Raleigh Classical Series, will also feature Shostakovich’s Festive Overture and Symphony No. 1.

“I was first drawn to the playing of Yevgeny Sudbin listening to him perform Scarlatti piano sonatas,” said Llewellyn.  “I thought, if he can apply that same imagination, elegance and dexterity to a Rachmaninoff concerto, it could be a spectacular event. We then made our recording of the Original Version of Rachmaninoff’s 4th concerto and everything I’d hoped for came to pass.”

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1980, Yevgeny Sudbin performs regularly in many of the world’s finest venues and concert series, both in recital and with orchestra. In the midst of a 7-year and 14-album collaboration with BIS Records, his recordings have met with critical acclaim. His Scriabin recording was awarded CD of the Year by The Telegraph and received the MIDEM Classical Award for Best Solo Instrument Recording at Cannes. It was described by Gramophone as “a disc in a million,” while the International Record Review stated that his 2009 recording of Rachmaninoff with the North Carolina Symphony was “essential listening.”  In 2013, the Critics’ Circle announced its third annual Critics’ Circle Music Award, and Sudbin was named the recipient of the Exceptional Young Talent Award in the Instrumentalist category.

In addition to stellar performances, North Carolina Symphony concertgoers can enjoy pre-concert talks, post-concert discussions, and “Meet the Artists,” which feature interactive conversations with guest artists and select orchestra members, at many Symphony events.  Before the Friday, Oct. 3, performance in Raleigh, Catherine Brand of WUNC 91.5 FM will host a Meet the Artists session in the Swalin Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall at 6:30 p.m.  On Saturday, Oct. 4, Dr. Jonathan Kramer, of N.C. State University, will give a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. in the Swalin Lobby.

Tickets to the Raleigh Classical Series performances on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4, range from $18 to $65.  Student tickets are $10.  Concert tickets at all performances are also available at the door one hour prior to concert start time.

Other 2014-15 season highlights include Handel’s Messiah and “A Pink Martini Christmas,” in December, the beautiful and romantic film Casablanca that also features a stunning musical score on Valentine’s weekend, and for the season finale in May, a collaboration with PlayMaker’s Repertory Company on a new, semi-staged production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Meymandi Concert Hall is located in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., in Raleigh. 

Partners for the 2014/15 Raleigh Classical Series include Clancy & Theys Construction; Duke Realty; and Smith Anderson.

About the North Carolina Symphony

Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony gives more than 200 performances annually to adults and school children in more than 50 North Carolina counties. An entity of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, the orchestra employs 66 professional musicians, under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry, and Associate Conductor David Glover.

Based in downtown Raleigh’s spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It holds regular concert series in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines and Wilmington—as well as individual concerts in many other North Carolina communities throughout the year—and conducts one of the most extensive education programs of any U.S. orchestra.

Oct. 3-4 Concert/Event Listings:
North Carolina Symphony
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Yevgeny Sudbin, piano
Oct. 3-4, 8 p.m.
Meymandi Concert Hall, Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh

Oct. 3-4 Program Listings:
North Carolina Symphony
Grant Llewellyn, conductor
Yevgeny Sudbin, piano  

Festive Overture, Op. 96  
Dmitri Shostakovich   (1906-1975)  

Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10  
Dmitri Shostakovich
    I. Allegretto – Allegro non troppo
   II. Allegro
  III. Lento
  IV. Allegro molto – Lento – Allegro molto

Concerto No. 3 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 30
Sergei Rachmaninoff   (1873-1943)  
    I. Allegro ma non tanto
   II. Intermezzo