It would greatly please Tchaikovsky to learn that his symphonic works are appearing on the same programme as Mozart’s exquisite Piano Concerto in C major.  The Russian master referred to Mozart as “a musical Christ“, and honoured him as a role model throughout his life. The result of this adoration is Suite No. 4, known as Mozartiana (“tribute to Mozart“), in which Tchaikovsky incorporated some of Amadeus’s forgotten piano pieces, as well as his motet “Ave verum corpus”, into an orchestral work. Mozartiana is rarely heard in concert, but some of its sections are truly brilliant. One of Tchaikovsky’s German critics said of Suite No. 4 that it seemed the Russian composer no longer had ideas of his own and so resorted to using Mozart’s melodies. Six years later, at the age of 53, Tchaikovsky thoroughly refuted that cruel comment with his composition of the Pathétique symphony. The soloist for the evening, New York-based pianist Jeremy Denk (1970), was recently admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  His rich repertoire includes György Ligeti’s Études.