A quiet pulse, and a long, chant-like melody that seems to breathe the air of old Russia 鈥� it鈥檚 an unlikely way to begin one of the most difficult and brilliant piano concertos ever created. Rachmaninov鈥檚 Third has been called the 鈥淓verest of piano concertos鈥� but if anyone鈥檚 equipped to scale it, it鈥檚 the superb young British virtuoso Isata Kanneh-Mason and the 成人快手 SSO鈥檚 newly-appointed Principal Guest Conductor Delyana Lazarova.

She鈥檚 placed it at the centre of a concert designed to showcase her own musical passions, whether Jessie Montgomery鈥檚 playful letter from America, Samuel Barber at his most explosive, or Claude Debussy鈥檚 impressionist seascape 鈥� music driven by the swell of waves and the sparkle of sunlight.