Opening concert: Stravinsky's Petrushka

Stravinsky's intoxicating ballet music never ceases to amaze. With his puppet ballet Petrushka (1910-1911), he wrote a shimmering ode to life. Conductor Karina Canellakis and the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra revive the dancing ecstasy. They perform the successful 1947 version of Petrushka, in which the piano and percussion parts are allowed to shine in all their glory.

In his heyday, Stravinsky wrote one magnificent ballet after another. With impresario Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, the young Russian composer formed a veritable royal couple. The Firebird made Stravinsky a star, and Diaghilev immediately looked for a successor. That came with Petrushka, a diabolical dance between a living puppet and an unleashed orchestra.

Stravinsky's heart-stopping ballet music is preceded by Bernstein Chichester Psalms and John Adams The Chairman Dances.