On April 25, one of the most famous pianists of his generation, piano virtuoso Vadyms Kholodenko, will perform at the LVSO Concert Hall. The pianist, known for his exceptional interpretations, will perform a true pearl of the piano repertoire – Johannes Brahms’s Second Symphony in Vilnius, together with the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. a concert for piano. The concert will be conducted by the orchestra's artistic director and chief conductor, maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius.
"One of the two most striking qualities of V. Kholodenko as a pianist is his astonishingly resonant sound, which allows notes to linger in the air longer than the physical laws of acoustics would allow. The second, as if in opposition to the first, is his stunning, lightning-fast and impeccably precise technique," wrote one of the most famous JAV publications "Los Angeles Times".
Born in Kiev, V. Kholodenko began playing the piano at the age of six, and made his international debut at the age of thirteen. “My mother introduced me to classical music. She had learned to play the piano as a child, so we had a piano in our house and there was no shortage of classical recordings,” recalls V. Kholodenko. The pianist graduated from the Kiev State Lysenko Music Lyceum and the Moscow P. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Then he began to win prestigious piano competitions. In 2010, V. Kholodenko won first place at the Sendai International Piano Competition in Japan, in 2011 – at the F. Schubert International Piano Competition, and in 2013 he won gold at the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the USA. The latter victory finally opened the way for V. Kholodenko to the most famous concert halls in the world. V. Kholodenko has been praised for his fiery pianism, his incredibly wide repertoire, and his refined, poetic interpretations. “An artist of the highest order,” wrote the French daily Le Figaro in 2017 after V. Kholodenko’s performance.
His extraordinary talent and mastery have earned him a place among the elite of the world's classical music. In the 2024-2025 season alone, V. Kholodenko performed with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, the Netherlands Radio, Vienna, London Philharmonic, Indianapolis and other leading symphony orchestras. The pianist also gives recitals in prestigious concert halls from London, Paris, Vienna to Boston, Chicago and New York, where he is praised for his "impeccable technique, capable of revealing moments of crystalline subtlety" (The Guardian).
V. Kholodenko's recordings have also received critical acclaim, being considered "truly exceptional" (Gramophone Magazine) and having won the BBC Music Magazine Editor's Choice Award and the coveted Diapason d'Or Award of the Year. However, the famous pianist remains modest and when asked about his success, he replies: "For me, success is the feeling that the listeners understand and follow my musical language."
At the LVSO Concert Hall in Vilnius, the famous pianist will perform one of the most prominent works in the piano repertoire – J. Brahms’s impressive Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B flat major, op. 83, belonging to the composer’s most mature period of creativity and revealing the composer’s all-round mastery. In the second part of the concert, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by artistic director and chief conductor Gintaras Rinkevičius, will perform Jean Sibelius’s First Symphony in E minor, which the composer wrote in 1899, when he was 34 years old. Although J. Sibelius had already established himself as a master of orchestration with his previous programmatic symphonic poems, it was the First Symphony that earned the composer international recognition. "This symphony, full of unbridled power, passionate vitality and astonishing audacity, is an extraordinary work that breaks new ground, or rather, rushes forward like a drunken god," wrote Ferdinand Pfohl in the Hamburger Nachrichten newspaper.
Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra concert "Vadym Kholodenko Calls J. Brahms" will take place on April 25 at 19 p.m. in the LVSO Concert Hall. Conductor is maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius. Tickets are distributed by the LVSO Concert Hall box office and Bilietai.lt.
