NDR Radio Philharmonic, Hanover

One of today's most inspirational pianists joins this elite German radio orchestra for a concert that exudes wit, melodic beauty and mercurial charm.

'The melodies fly so thick here that you have to be careful not to step on one,' deadpanned Brahms to his publisher when writing his joyful, sunny symphony. It could well apply to this whole concert. It is Brahms at his most joyful and easy-going, and Prokofiev channelling the spirit of Haydn for an affectionate, livewire pastiche, soulful, tuneful and occasionally laugh-out-loud.

In between, the invigorating freshness and unabashed Romanticism of a youthful piano concerto. Nikolai Lugansky has been hailed by France's Le monde as 'one of the most outstanding artists of our epoch'. He is an intuitive, livewire performer, perfectly attuned to the expansive lyricism and glittering virtuosity of Rachmaninov's breakthrough work.

Nikolai Lugansky plays with a nobility devoid of emphasis, in harmony with the conductor's clear and elegant conducting.