Britain's What's On Event Guide

The Strand International Piano Series 2025/6 - Rachmaninoff Preludes

Step into the stunning candlelit setting of St Mary le Strand — “the Jewel of the Strand” — for the return of The Strand International Piano Series, now it's in fourth year after a critically acclaimed launch season in 2022–23. This intimate and architecturally impressive Baroque church has quickly become one of London’s most captivating concert venues, offering sublime acoustics along with the power and clarity of a brand-new Steinway concert grand piano.

This year’s series celebrates one of the most evocative and emotionally charged achievements in the piano repertoire: Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 24 Preludes. Spanning every major and minor key, these works offer a sweeping portrait of the composer’s inner world—from thunderous drama and virtuosic brilliance to haunting lyricism and introspective beauty. Written across different periods of his life, the preludes reflect the full range of Rachmaninoff’s genius, and each concert in the series reveals a new facet of his profound musical voice.

Featuring
Martin Cousin (piano)
Programme
Beethoven – Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 22
Rachmaninoff – Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2
Prokofiev – Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83