Boris Giltburg returns to The Hague, and that’s always something to look forward to. A mainstay of the Residentie Orkest he was our very first artist-in-residence. Beloved for his clear playing, depth, and flawless tension. During Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, he demonstrates why he ranks among today’s greats: expressive, refined, and entirely at the service of the music. A concert evening full of personality and orchestral bravura.

The evening opens with Finlandia, Sibelius’s powerful and charged symphonic poem that rises from silence and grows into a broad, hopeful statement. Next, Lutosławski draws you into his Concerto for Orchestra: a spectacular masterpiece full of contrasts, rhythmic precision, and brilliant orchestration. It is like a building full of rooms, each with its own energy and character. After this exuberant orchestral richness, tranquility returns with The Swan of Tuonela, Sibelius’s subdued vision drawn from Finnish mythology. The slowly floating melody of the English horn above dark, transparent strings creates a timeless and almost otherworldly soundscape. The evening culminates in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Under the baton of conductor Emilia Hoving—one of the most talked-about young conductors and a compatriot of Sibelius—this program achieves a unique blend of mysticism, virtuosity, and pure symphonic power.

In collaboration with master’s students from the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.