The Rachmaninoff International Orchestra. Photos courtesy of Shenzhen Concert Hall

Mikhail Pletnev, hailed as a true master of the Russian school, will join the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra under the baton of Kirill Karabits for a concert at Shenzhen Concert Hall tomorrow evening.

The performance marks the orchestra’s Shenzhen debut and will include Pletnev’s own compositions alongside works by Rachmaninoff.

Mikhail Pletnev.

Born into a musical family in Russia in 1957, Pletnev is a pianist, conductor and composer of rare versatility. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Jacob Flier and Lev Vlasenko and won the Gold Medal at the 1978 International Tchaikovsky Competition, launching an international performing career. He has since appeared as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors.

Pletnev’s style blends refinement and restraint with grandeur, intellectual depth and intense passion. As a conductor he has been equally influential: he founded the Russian National Orchestra in 1989; the ensemble’s recording of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony “Pathétique” was praised by Gramophone as one of the best, and its recording of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” earned the orchestra its first Grammy.

In 2023 Pletnev founded the Rachmaninoff International Orchestra, bringing together outstanding musicians from Eastern and Western Europe.

Kirill Karabits.

Tomorrow’s program opens with the Chinese premiere of Pletnev’s latest work, “Music Memory,” a suite of 14 short pieces. The second half features Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18” — one of the piano repertoire’s greatest works: dramatic, lyrical and tempestuous, with sweeping melodies. Technically demanding (notably for pianists with smaller hands), it remains a signature showpiece for virtuosos.

The concert will close with Rachmaninoff’s “Capriccio on Gypsy Themes, Op. 12,” a work of improvisatory flair and ardent passion. The orchestra says the performance will evoke “a sense of wandering,” transporting the audience to prairie landscapes and a history shaped by both suffering and joy.

Tickets: 280-1,280 yuan

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 24

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (深圳音樂廳)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宮站), Exit D