When Rachmaninoff explained to the conductor Leopold Stokowski how his works should be understood, he wrote: "First death, then life.".

Music and words. Pianist and writer. A declaration of love for a great composer. Mikhail Shishkin reads an essay about Rachmaninoff, Alexei Botvinov plays his music.

Mikhail Shishkin He is an internationally acclaimed Russian author whose novels have been translated into 35 languages. The writer has lived and worked in Switzerland for many years, a country that was home to many prominent figures of Russian culture during his lifetime, including Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Alexei Botvinov He is the most famous pianist in Ukraine. He is rightly considered one of the finest interpreters of Rachmaninoff's music. The creative collaboration between the Ukrainian virtuoso and the Russian composer is a clear statement about the role and power of culture in times of war.

Duration approx. 70 minutes (without break)
Admission free. Collection in aid of the artists.