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An unfortunate incident forced the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra to make a rare last-minute repertoire change to one of their concerts on Saturday night.
Audiences flocked to the Centennial Concert Hall on Saturday night to hear acclaimed international pianist Anna Geniushene perform Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto no. 1 in the orchestra’s offering, Brahms & Tchaikovsky. They were met with an unwelcome announcement from conductor Daniel Raiskin, who shared that the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition winner was indisposed due to injury.
Instead, the WSO shared the other half of the planned program, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6 (also known as the “Pathetique”), accompanied by the “Unfinished” Symphony no. 8 of Franz Schubert. It was a work that the orchestra had performed at the end of January as part of its From the Inside Out concerts, which saw audiences welcomed onto the Centennial Concert Hall stage to sit amongst the musicians of the WSO as they performed Schubert’s masterpiece, alongside another piece by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, (selections from his Swan Lake suite) and music from the film score for The Cowboys by John Williams.
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has shared that Geniushene will be welcomed back to the Centennial Concert Hall stage for its 2026-2027 season. The WSO will repeat Saturday night’s program on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.