Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra plays Russian music, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 23 April 2026 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review by William Ruff

Photo credit: Chris Christoloudou

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra plays Russian music

Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham | 23 April 2026

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review by William Ruff

“Rich, vivid playing from the RLPO and staggering virtuosity from the soloist.”

You may think you know all about the Liverpool accent – but when it comes to its famous orchestra you may be surprised by how Russian it sounds.  In fact, it wasn’t so long ago that it was hailed as the UK’s best Russian orchestra.  That was in the days of its St Petersburg-born conductor Vasili Petrenko.  These days, under the baton of Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, things haven’t changed. 

The central work in their programme was the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Prokofiev.  This was probably the first time the work had ever been performed in the Royal Concert Hall – and one reason for that is that it’s staggeringly difficult for the soloist, having a reputation as one of the most technically formidable works in the repertoire.  However, Alim Beisembayev (Leeds Piano Competition winner 2021) has tamed it.  I wouldn’t like to say how many hours it took him to do so, but he managed to do things at the keyboard that few in the audience would ever have seen before.  Half way through the opening movement the orchestra falls silent and there follows one of the most monumental cadenzas in the piano repertoire, lasting five minutes.  If you look at the score it seems impossible.  For clarity’s sake Prokofiev writes the notes on three staves, almost as if you need three hands to play it.  And that is what it sounds (and looks) like, the pianist’s hands having to execute massive leaps while maintaining the melodic line.

There is no respite in the second movement.  After the emotional devastation of the concerto’s opening you might expect an oasis of calm.  Not a bit of it: in the two-minute scherzo Alim had to play 1,500 semiquavers in strict, relentless unison between his two hands, without a single moment’s pause, with the orchestra seemingly trying to chase him.  It was one of the most exhilarating two minutes you’re ever likely to hear in a concert hall.

Then came the Intermezzo’s sardonic wit followed by the explosive finale, opening with a ferocious tirade of crashing chords and manic leaps from the piano.  Even being able to see the blur of Alim Beisembayev’s hands wasn’t enough to make you believe what your ears were hearing.  It was an astonishingly assured, controlled and (more than anything) deeply musical performance. 

After that you wouldn’t have been surprised to see attendants enter the stage with a stretcher to carry off a collapsed Alim Beisembayev for recovery in hospital.  Instead he responded to wild audience cheering by playing Debussy’s exquisite Reflets dans l’eau as encore.

The rest of the RLPO’s programme was equally (but differently) impressive.  It opened with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, a work that captures not only the religious aspects of Easter (the composer makes use of highly atmospheric Orthodox chants) but also its ancient pagan origins. Rimsky was one of the greatest of all orchestrators and conductor Domingo Hindoyan was expert at drawing out the work’s rich, multi-layered colours whilst highlighting the Overture’s vivid contrast of its pagan and Christian roots.  The RLPO shone both in ensemble and in many characterful solos.

They ended their programme with Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, a work that traces an emotional arc from dark fatalism to hard-won triumph.  Domingo Hindoyan moulded it all with a sure sense of drama and emotional intensity.  The opening movement moved swiftly and compellingly to its lyric climaxes.  The Andante was distinguished by its intense pianissimos and beautiful horn solos (from Timothy Jackson); the Waltz was supremely elegant and the finale blazed with a thrilling sense of victory.  The RLPO is clearly still playing at the top of its game.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, with Alim Beisembayev (piano).