Beethoven, Wagner and Rachmaninoff with Jaap van Zweden and Alexandre Kantorow

About the Event

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden close the music summer with Wagner's impressive Overture “Tannhäuser” and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Piano virtuoso Alexandre Kantorow will solo in Rachmaninoff's challenging Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini.

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7
'Under Jaap van Zweden, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra plays crisp and spot‐on,' judged NRC following a concert at De Doelen in 2024. Van Zweden had just announced then that he is stepping down as principal of Hong Kong orchestra after 12 years, as he will become principal conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in 2026. In the final concert of this music summer, Jaap van Zweden will lead his orchestra in Wagner's Overture “Tannhäuser” and Beethoven's irresistibly rhythmic Seventh Symphony.

Alexandre Kantorow with Rachmaninoff's Paganini Variations
During Jaap van Zweden's extensive farewell tour of Asia and Europe, Rachmaninoff's challenging Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini is also regularly on the program, with French piano phenomenon Alexandre Kantorow as soloist. 'In Rachmaninoff's beloved Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, in addition to the warm‐feeling playing of young French pianist Alexandre Kantorow, the fresh clarity in the orchestral sound stood out,' wrote NRC about the concert at De Doelen in 2024. Kantorow is at home on many markets, as he played — in the rain! — during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. But tonight he is just inside, on the Great Hall stage.