Rachmaninoff & New World Symphony with Toledo Symphony Orchestra

JON NAKAMATSU, piano 

HINDEMITH: Concert Music for Strings and Brass 
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3 
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) 

Few works test a pianist like Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, the centerpiece of this program of orchestral color and scale. Toledo Symphony favorite Jon Nakamatsu takes on the concerto, a legendary showpiece that pushes the piano to its limits while revealing moments of warmth and reflection. Hindemith’s Concert Music for Strings and Brass opens the evening with brisk orchestral interplay and tightly interlocking instrumental lines, with clear themes threading through the busy orchestral texture. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” brings the character of American song and wide landscapes into the concert hall in one of the most celebrated works in the symphonic repertoire.