ONE of the leading orchestras in the world, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra performs a programme of Russian music at Leeds Town Hall on Saturday, January 28.

Under the baton of veteran conductor Yuri Temirkanov, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra performs Armenian composer Khachaturian’s Suite: Spartacus and Rachmaninov’s dazzling Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini starring the award-winning pianist Nikolai Lugansky. The orchestra also performs Rimsky-Korsakov’s Oriental fairy-tale narrative Scheherezade, based on the legendary queen Scheherezade, who evaded execution by telling one thousand and one tales.

Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky took to the piano at the age of five, before he had learned to read music, when he played a Beethoven piano sonata learned completely by ear. He eventually went on to study at Moscow Conservatoire, by which time he was already winning piano competition prizes and even recording for Vanguard Classics and Soviet label Melodiya. Nikolai has since made a library of recordings and now combines teaching at the Moscow Conservatoire with a busy schedule touring the world as a soloist.

Formed in 1882, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra is Russia’s oldest symphony orchestra. Chief Conductor Yuri Temirkanov has been at the helm of the orchestra since 1988, and continues to tour the world with the ensemble. Yuri first studied violin and viola at the Leningrad Conservatoire, before establishing himself as a conductor after winning the prestigious all-Soviet National Conducting Competition in 1966. In 2003 he was named Italy’s Conductor of the Year. In the same year he received the Abbiati Prize for Best Conductor, and again in 2007.

Tickets for this concert are priced £12.50-£33.50 and are available from the Box Office on 0113 376 0318 or book online at www.leedsconcertseason.com. Discounts of 50 per cent are available for students, under 18s and jobseekers. If you’re under 26 you can purchase tickets for an orchestral concert for £5 in the seven days before the concert.