Zubin Mehta conducts Saint-Saëns, Chopin, Chausson, and Beethoven — With Julian Rachlin, Evgeny Kissin, and Vadim Repin

In December 2011, three outstanding soloists joined Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the prestigious ensemble’s founding.

Lithuanian-born violinist Julian Rachlin opens the concert with one of the most popular works Saint-Saëns ever composed: the Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28, a virtuosic jaunt dedicated to and then later premiered by the 19th-century violin star Pablo de Sarasate. Next Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin gives a moving performance of Chopin’s First Piano Concerto, a work the Polish composer wrote at the age of 20 and premiered himself to wild success as part of his farewell concerts before leaving Poland in 1830. French composer Ernest Chausson’s Poème, Op. 25 closes the soloist-centric first half of the concert program: Siberian violinist Vadim Repin performs the virtuosic violin part dedicated to Eugène Ysaÿe. The IPO and Mehta then devote themselves to Beethoven’s light-hearted Eighth Symphony, a work he fondly referred to as “my little Symphony in F”.

Photo: © Shai Skiff