Fan favourite Beethoven concerto to be performed by Polish pianist

After his sold-out Bangkok debut performance six years ago, Polish concert pianist Krystian Zimerman will make his second highly-anticipated appearance with the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.4, in the Main Hall of Thailand Cultural Centre, Ratchadaphisek Road, on Nov 22 at 8pm.

Krystian Zimerman. photo courtesy of RBSO Foundation

Presented by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra Foundation under the patronage of HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, the "Zimerman Plays Beethoven Piano Concerto No.4" promises to be one of the top highlights of the 2022 music season.

The evening programme will open with Orchestral Variations On Themes Of Chopin, a particularly exciting contemporary piece by Slovenian composer Anže Rozman.

This will introduce Zimerman's entrance most aptly, since his rise to fame began in 1975 when, aged 18, he won First Prize at the IX International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw.

Following the success at this competition, he began his collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1976 and has since performed with leading orchestras around the world.

Charles Olivieri-Munroe. photo: Adam Golec

In 1999, he created the exceptional hand-picked Polish Festival Orchestra to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Frédéric Chopin's death.

The brilliance and perfectionism of his musicianship later inspired his country's greatest living composer, Witold Lutosławski, to write his Piano Concerto for him -- a modern masterpiece which Zimerman has recorded twice to the highest critical acclaim.

Returning to conduct the RBSO in this show will be Canadian-Maltese maestro Charles Olivieri-Munroe, very well-known and respected by Bangkok audiences for many years now.

In the second half of the programme, he will guide the orchestra through another great "fourth" in the orchestral canon -- Brahms' turbulent Symphony No.4 In E Minor, one of the greatest essays in symphonic perfection.

Tickets cost 1,000, 1,600, 2,400, 3,200 and 4,000 baht (half prices for students and the seniors aged from 60 years). Visit thaiticketmajor.com or call 02-262-3456.

Visit rbsothailand.com.