In his Third Piano Concerto, by turns tempestuous, tuneful and tender, Beethoven typically transformed any passing hints of pessimism into an ending of ebullient, unalloyed joy. Tchaikovsky, by contrast, concluded his symphonic swansong, premiered just nine days before his untimely death from cholera, with a headlong descent from the heady heights of euphoria into the dark depths of despair – and yet the Pathétique Symphony still lives on as one of the most poignantly personal last testaments in all of Western classical music.

One of the world’s finest ensembles, the London Symphony Orchestra makes its annual visit to the Brighton Festival under its Chief Conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano, cementing a musical partnership that just goes from strength to strength.

They’re joined by expatriate Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin, who won First Prize in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2010 and has recently performed concerts for the Barenboim-Said Foundation in aid of Ukrainian refugees.

Supported by Prof David Gann CBE FREng