Premiere 5

The CySO’s PREMIERE 5 concert presents a richly contrasted programme from Baroque profundity to Romantic exuberance, under the firm baton of the internationally acclaimed conductor Charles Olivieri-Munroe and featured soloist the outstanding Cypriot pianist Christos Fountos. Third Prize winner at the recent highly prestigious 65th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy, Christos has been drawing increasing international attention for his refined musicianship, poetic sensitivity, and commanding technique.

The evening will start with Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental Chaconne from the Partita in D minor, here heard in Joachim Raff’s powerful orchestral transcription, opens the evening with music of rare gravity and architectural grandeur. Bach’s inexhaustible invention is transformed into a compelling symphonic statement, revealing new colours while preserving the work’s spiritual intensity.

At the centre of the programme stands Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano concerto no. 1, a youthful masterpiece, overflowing with passion, dazzling virtuosity, and sweeping, unforgettable melodies. The concerto showcases the composer’s emerging genius and the piano’s full e