Symphonic Dances New York Performances

Sergei Rachmaninoff’s *Symphonic Dances* (1940) is a late orchestral triptych that distills his characteristic sweep into three concentrated panels—restless rhythm, nocturnal lyricism, and a final movement shadowed by recalled themes and quoted chant. Written after he left Russia, it often reads as a backward glance, with memory and unease held in balance. At David Geffen Hall, Santtu‑Matias Rouvali leads the New York Philharmonic in a program that places the work in the city’s ongoing tradition of orchestral modernity. One can hear it as Rachmaninoff’s most unsentimental self-portrait.