Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky

Passion and Fate

📍 This event takes place at Powell Hall

Friday, Nov 6, 2026, 7:30pm View Subscriptions Saturday, Nov 7, 2026, 7:30pm View Subscriptions Sunday, Nov 8, 2026, 3:00pm View Subscriptions

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Program

Stéphane Denève, conductor
Daniil Trifonov, piano

Michael Tilson Thomas Agnegram
Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6

About this Concert

A sudden wave of joy rushes through the hall as Michael Tilson Thomas’ tribute to an avid orchestra supporter opens this passionate concert. Discover why pianist Daniil Trifonov has earned accolades around the globe as he performs a soulful concerto written by a teenaged Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was then just emerging onto the Russian music scene. That young composer was following in the footsteps of another extraordinary musician, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, whose Pathétique Symphony is still considered one of the most profound, intimate, and moving orchestral pieces of all time.

- Agnes Albert, the inspiration for Michael Tilson Thomas’ Agnegram, was a skilled pianist and a philanthropist who helped to establish the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.
- The Pathétique Symphony was both Tchaikovsky’s proudest achievement and his final farewell to the world. He died just nine days after the piece’s premiere.
- Among Russian pianist and composer Daniil Trifonov’s award-winning recordings, his 2016 album, Transcendental—consisting of the complete piano études of Franz Liszt—was designated one of “The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2016” by the New York Times and won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.