At a Russian fair, the crowd gathers. A showman raises his flute. Three puppets stir, then come to life.

This is the world of Petrushka, Stravinsky’s vivid story of spectacle, illusion, and a puppet who feels far more human than anyone expects. Set at a Shrovetide fair in 1830s St. Petersburg, the score bristles with sharp rhythms, bright colors, folk-inflected sounds, and sudden turns. It is theatrical, strange, and alive from the first scene to the last. Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras describes the story as moving between the fairground and the inner world of the puppets, ending with Petrushka struck down before his spirit returns to mock the crowd and the showman.

Before The Rite of Spring shocked Paris, Stravinsky found one of his most vivid voices in Petrushka. The piano plays a special role here, not as a traditional soloist, but as part of Petrushka’s character: sharp-edged, disruptive, and full of nervous energy. In the 1947 version, Stravinsky made the piano even more prominent, bringing the music closer to a concert work while keeping its theatrical force.

Listen closely near the end. After Petrushka’s death, the orchestra gives us a chilling little detail: the sound of his wooden head seeming to bounce down the steps. It lasts only a moment, but once you hear it, you do not forget it.

After Stravinsky’s eerie fairground drama, Brahms offers a different kind of power. His Piano Concerto No. 2 is expansive, majestic, and deeply human, with the piano and orchestra moving together in a relationship so symphonic that early listeners discussed it as a “symphony with piano.” Pianist David Fung, praised for performances that are elegant, refined, and intensely expressive, brings this monumental concerto to life with Auburn Symphony.

Puppets & Piano begins with a puppet who refuses to stay silent and ends with Brahms at the height of his mature style: grand, searching, and unforgettable.

Program

Igor STRAVINSKY - Petrushka (1947 version)
Johannes BRAHMS - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

Guest Artist

David Fung, piano