The brilliant Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma performs with our orchestra for the second time, now with a famous work by a former Moscow student, composer Sofia Gubaidulina. The story of the Offertorium began by accident, after a conversation between the author and the famous violinist Gidon Kremer, when they once shared a taxi ride. In the end, Kremer commissioned a violin concerto for which Gubaidulina drew inspiration from his performing style, which she characterized as a total surrender to the tone. That is why the Offertorium is an example of a work that was created for both the author and the artist for whom it was written. The second part of our program features the Manfred Symphony, the only programmatic symphony that P. I. Tchaikovsky wrote. The work is based on the poem Manfred by Lord Byron and is the composer’s greatest symphonic work, both in terms of length and instrumentation. It was premiered in Moscow in 1886 and was written at the behest of and dedicated to composer Mily Balakirev.