Rachmaninoff + Stravinsky

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra rings in the new year with Rachmaninoff’s show-stopping Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, a pianistic favorite delivering sweeping Romantic melodies and sizzling virtuosity. Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov returns alongside the fiery young Uzbek conductor Aziz Shokhakimov. Next, the ASO pulls out all the stops in Stravinsky’s high-octane showpiece Petrushka. The concert opens with the symphonic poem Winter Bells, a “gorgeous novelty” by one of music’s rising stars, the young American-based Russian composer Polina Nazaykinskaya.