An evening of Tchaikovsky with the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra at Megaron – the Athens Concert Hall, on Thursday, 17 December 2026, under the baton of its founder and conductor Dionysis Grammenos, with virtuoso pianist Vassilis Varvaresos as soloist. 

The GYSO – Youth Orchestra in Residence at Megaron – performs the Symphony No. 5 and the Piano Concerto No. 1, two of the composer’s most celebrated and widely recognised works. 

A few words about the program

Although today they rank among the leading works of the symphonic repertoire, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 5 did not have an untroubled beginning. When the composer presented his Concerto to the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, the latter dismissed it as “trivial and clumsily written.” And yet the Concerto was destined to become one of the most beloved works in the history of music.

The Fifth Symphony becomes the arena in which Tchaikovsky confronts fate. The motif of destiny runs through all four movements of the work, carrying the music from anguish to triumph. 

PROGRAM 

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY 
Piano Concerto No. 1 In B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 

Vassilis Varvaresos | Piano 
Dionysis Grammenos | Conductor