The second opening concert of the 2026 Rheingau Music Festival, held at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, opened with three masterpieces: Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The spotlight was on Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino, who captivated the audience with his virtuosic and poetic interpretation of the Rachmaninoff concerto. Together with the hr Symphony Orchestra, he created an impressive concert experience and a successful start to the new season.
Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances
No sooner does the wonderful music of the hr Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Principal Conductor Alain Altinoglu, begin than a gateway to a distant world opens. Vast steppes seem to unfold before the mind’s eye, filled with wonderful scents, the splendor of oriental colors, and the pulsating life of a nighttime festival. With the Polovtsian Dances, Alexander Borodin created one of the most stirring and colorful scenes in Russian operatic literature. Originally, they formed the spectacular finale of the second act of his opera “Prince Igor”. However, they have long been performed as a standalone concert piece as well. This will be the case at the opening concert of the 2026 Rheingau Music Festival on June 21 at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden.
The magnificent Thierschsaal provided a wonderful setting for the concert version. Borodin knew better than almost anyone else how to make orchestral colors shine. The famous melodies seem to rise from an ancient memory, while the dance-like rhythms sweep the audience along irresistibly. The Polovtsian Dances are far more than a series of dramatic orchestral pieces. They are a musical vision of freedom, longing, and joie de vivre—a celebration of the imagination and the senses. In the twelve-minute concert version, they distill all the magic of Russian Romanticism into a single moment brimming with color, passion, and the timeless beauty that makes great music immortal.
Hayato Sumino captivates with his expressiveness
With over 2.2 million followers on his social media platforms, the young, 30-year-old Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino has built an extraordinary global presence. He captivates the audience at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s famous Second Piano Concerto—a work that, like few others, bridges passionate drama and heartfelt lyricism. Sumino proved himself to be a soloist of extraordinary expressiveness and technical mastery. Nothing seemed forced or showy.
He combined the virtuosic demands of the work with transparency. In the first movement, he blended dramatic energy with noble tonal culture. He rendered the Adagio sostenuto with poetic tenderness. The melodies floated almost weightlessly above the orchestral sound, unfolding the melancholic beauty that makes Rachmaninoff’s music so distinctive. Sumino’s playing possessed that blend of precision and freedom that defines great interpretations. It became a moving musical narrative of longing, passion, and hope—and proof of why Hayato Sumino is today one of the most fascinating artistic personalities of his generation.
…and hovering over it all is the enigmatic “Enigma”
After the intermission, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra transported the audience into a deeply personal world of sound with Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Op. 36.
Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” are far more than a virtuosic orchestral work: they are a musical portrait album, a gallery of friends and companions whom Elgar captured in sound with subtle humor, great affection, and psychological insight.
Each variation portrays a different character—sometimes cheerful and playful, sometimes pensive and heartfelt, sometimes full of spirit and joie de vivre. Hovering over it all is the enigmatic “Enigma,” which continues to spark speculation to this day and lends the work its mysterious charm.
Amid the sparkling orchestral colors and the masterful Elgar’s *Enigma Variations* are far more than a virtuosic orchestral work: they are a musical portrait album, a gallery of friends and companions whom Elgar captured in music with subtle humor, great affection, and psychological insight.
Each variation portrays a different character—sometimes cheerful and playful, sometimes pensive and heartfelt, sometimes full of spirit and joie de vivre. Hovering over it all is the enigmatic “Enigma,” which continues to spark speculation to this day and lends the work its mysterious charm.
Beneath the sparkling orchestral colors and the masterfully drawn character portraits lies music of profound human depth. It reaches its emotional climax in the famous “Nimrod” variation, whose beauty and quiet grandeur rank among the most moving moments in orchestral literature. Thus, the Enigma Variations unfold as a unique blend of intimacy and symphonic splendor—a work full of warmth, humanity, and timeless elegance.
Johanna Wenninger-Muhr