The conductor Kristiina Poska and soloist Simon Trpčeski complemented each other perfectly in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. The pianist from North Macedonia mastered the technically demanding passages with ease and at the same time showed a great sense for the quiet, lyrical, and delicate.

Simon Trpčeski, born in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1979, is a highly talented classical pianist. For this, the 2023-2024 season, he holds the esteemed position of Artist in Residence with both the Orchestra Philharmonic of Monte-Carlo and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He is widely acclaimed for his exceptional virtuosity, profound expressiveness, and compelling stage presence.

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra completed a masterful performance with Vasily Petrenko and Simon Trpčeski, two men who know the orchestra well and the tastes of the Korean audience. Trpčeski, who previously performed with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009 and 2013, invited the audience into the world of Brahms, harmonizing with the orchestra without any sense of incongruity. In particular, his chemistry with the Royal Liverpool Orchestra led by Petrenko, who recorded all of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos, shined.

Simon Trpčeski brought a level of flash and sparkle to his performance of Saint-Saëns’ "Egyptian" Concerto that shows he knows how to be a showman. There was a gorgeous sense of air around the first theme, gently swaying and softy propelled, before giving way to a calmly propulsive first movement in which the orchestral sound was gently airborne throughout, thanks as much to the conducting of Thomas Søndergård as to the orchestral playing.

We are accustomed to thinking of Simon Trpčeski as a superlative pianist,’ wrote The Independent when Trpčeski founded MAKEDONISSIMO in 2018. ‘On the evidence of this concert he’s also a multi-instrumentalist with a winning sound as a folk singer; he’s also a bandleader and an accomplished MC.’ Enough said, except that if you’ve heard Trpčeski’s explosive performances with the full RSNO… well, he’s even more dazzling with this hand-picked folk band, cutting loose in the untamed folk music of his native Macedonia. Hold tight!

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski is the RSNO’s 2023:24 Artist in Residence. In this short interview, we ask him what he enjoys most about Scotland, performing with the RSNO and the concerts he is looking forward to.

Any suspicions that the best-loved piano concerto in the repertoire might sound routine or stale were dispelled from the outset in this performance by Simon Trpčeski, by turns majestic, heaven-storming, intimate, dreamy and terpsichorean. The Macedonian pianist immediately warmed to the orchestra and audience, bringing an intensity of focus and purpose to his interpretation.

Saturday, 17 February 2024, 7.30pm GMT

Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto no.2 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Maestro Thomas Søndergård at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow

After the interval, meanwhile, came a deeply felt performance of Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with Simon Trpčeski as soloist. He brought plenty of weight, insight and drama to the organically unfolding opening movement and the turbulent scherzo, yet it was the delicacy of his playing elsewhere that will linger most in the memory – the sense of quiet stillness at the centre of the slow movement, for instance, or the grace of the finale, with its understated elegance and wit.

Orthodox New Year's Eve, Saturday 13 January 2024, 20:00h Auditorium Rainier III, Monaco

MAKEDONISSIMO - Transcriptions of traditional Macedonian music by Pande Shahov in collaboration with Simon Trpčeski

Pande SHAHOV - Pletenki: Plaits (Les tresses)

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