Franz Liszt Concerts in SoCal

Program: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo in D major, K. 485; Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique”; Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110; Isaac Albéniz: Selections from Suite española No. 1, Op. 47; Enrique Granados: Quejas, o la maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas (Los majos enamorados) , Op. 11; Franz Liszt: Consolations , S. 172, No. 2: Un poco più mosso; Franz Liszt: Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli, Supplément aux Années de pèlerinage II , S. 162 Performers: Lang Lang (piano) From performing at the 2008 and 2026 Olympics and collaborating with Metallica to playing for Pope Francis and topping Billboard charts, Lang Lang remains one of the leading figures in expanding classical music’s reach. The global piano star returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall for a highly anticipated solo recital, performing Mozart’s playful Rondo along with two of Beethoven’s most beloved piano sonatas—the “Pathétique” and his emotionally charged penultimate sonata. After intermission, Lang Lang invites us on a romantic getaway to Spain via Albéniz’s flamenco-flavored Suite española as well as the chivalrous yet somber “Quejas” from Goyescas , Granados’ collection of pieces inspired by Spanish painter Francisco de Goya. Lang Lang closes out the recital with two works by his personal piano hero, Franz Liszt: the lightning-fast Tarantella and the deeply moving Consolation No. 2—the piece Lang Lang describes as “a whispered prayer that suddenly opens up into something universal.”

Program: Donghoon Shin: Dance Card; Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Suite from Swan Lake Performers: Los Angeles Philharmonic; Elim Chan (conductor); Yefim Bronfman (piano) Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake bursts with unflinching beauty, passion, and drama that is known the world over, but when Elim Chan performed a version of the suite in San Francisco last year she compiled herself and structured almost like a symphony, critics praised Chan’s ability to transform the familiar into something both new and timeless. With the ability to “bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra” and a presence that is “as communicative as a dancer,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Chan shaped Tchaikovsky “as if she were born to conduct ballet,” making her performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic a can’t-miss occasion. Like Swan Lake , Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto exudes unapologetic Romantic indulgence—though with more of Liszt’s trademark showmanship and musical fireworks. Yefim Bronfman performed the concerto at age 15 in an audition that helped catapult his career. Since then, Bronfman has shown an uncommon attunement for the piece’s technical and artistic challenges, leading Bachtrack to say Liszt’s “manic, head-banging moments...were delivered with punch and flair, but it was the poetry [Bronfman] found in the concerto’s opening sections which made one listen with new ears.” The program begins with Dance Card , a new waltz-inspired piece by Donghoon Shin, the South Korean composer admired for his “taste for the esoteric—a love of labyrinths, literary puzzles, and contradictory aspects of the self” ( The Arts Desk ).

Program: Donghoon Shin: Dance Card; Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Suite from Swan Lake Performers: Los Angeles Philharmonic; Elim Chan (conductor); Yefim Bronfman (piano) Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake bursts with unflinching beauty, passion, and drama that is known the world over, but when Elim Chan performed a version of the suite in San Francisco last year she compiled herself and structured almost like a symphony, critics praised Chan’s ability to transform the familiar into something both new and timeless. With the ability to “bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra” and a presence that is “as communicative as a dancer,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Chan shaped Tchaikovsky “as if she were born to conduct ballet,” making her performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic a can’t-miss occasion. Like Swan Lake , Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto exudes unapologetic Romantic indulgence—though with more of Liszt’s trademark showmanship and musical fireworks. Yefim Bronfman performed the concerto at age 15 in an audition that helped catapult his career. Since then, Bronfman has shown an uncommon attunement for the piece’s technical and artistic challenges, leading Bachtrack to say Liszt’s “manic, head-banging moments...were delivered with punch and flair, but it was the poetry [Bronfman] found in the concerto’s opening sections which made one listen with new ears.” The program begins with Dance Card , a new waltz-inspired piece by Donghoon Shin, the South Korean composer admired for his “taste for the esoteric—a love of labyrinths, literary puzzles, and contradictory aspects of the self” ( The Arts Desk ).

Program: Donghoon Shin: Dance Card; Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Suite from Swan Lake Performers: Los Angeles Philharmonic; Elim Chan (conductor); Yefim Bronfman (piano) Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake bursts with unflinching beauty, passion, and drama that is known the world over, but when Elim Chan performed a version of the suite in San Francisco last year she compiled herself and structured almost like a symphony, critics praised Chan’s ability to transform the familiar into something both new and timeless. With the ability to “bring out the best in a top-rank orchestra” and a presence that is “as communicative as a dancer,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Chan shaped Tchaikovsky “as if she were born to conduct ballet,” making her performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic a can’t-miss occasion. Like Swan Lake , Liszt’s Second Piano Concerto exudes unapologetic Romantic indulgence—though with more of Liszt’s trademark showmanship and musical fireworks. Yefim Bronfman performed the concerto at age 15 in an audition that helped catapult his career. Since then, Bronfman has shown an uncommon attunement for the piece’s technical and artistic challenges, leading Bachtrack to say Liszt’s “manic, head-banging moments...were delivered with punch and flair, but it was the poetry [Bronfman] found in the concerto’s opening sections which made one listen with new ears.” The program begins with Dance Card , a new waltz-inspired piece by Donghoon Shin, the South Korean composer admired for his “taste for the esoteric—a love of labyrinths, literary puzzles, and contradictory aspects of the self” ( The Arts Desk ).