Rapture & Ruin | Horizon Classical

Three Russian
masters.
One evening.

Horizon Orchestral Studio presents Rapture & Ruin, an evening of Russian orchestral masterworks featuring pianist Calvin Abdiel and conductor Hans Sangtoki at Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Bringing together music of exhilaration, longing, heartbreak, and renewal, the programme traces an emotional arc through three of the most enduring works in the orchestral repertoire: Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Rapture · Glinka

The evening opens with Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture, five minutes of pure, unguarded exhilaration. It arrives at full velocity and leaves the room immediately altered. Before the heartbreak, before the longing, there is this: concentrated joy. The orchestra at its most alive.

Ruin · Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture follows, twenty minutes that distil the entire emotional arc of Shakespeare's play into orchestral writing of devastating precision. The love theme is among the most recognised melodies ever written, and for good reason: it is not a beautiful tune about love. It is love itself, made audible. It builds, it breaks, and it does not end well. Exactly as it should.

Release · Rachmaninoff

After the interval, the evening arrives at its centre of gravity. Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto was written after three years of near-total creative silence, following a failure that nearly ended him. What he produced on the other side is forty minutes of music that still hasn't been surpassed for sheer emotional reach. The finale doesn't resolve; it gives way. Everything that's been held finally has somewhere to go. You don't cheer at the end. You exhale.

Programme

Mikhail Glinka
Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

— Interval —

Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

Event Information

Calvin Abdiel, Piano

Hans Sangtoki, Conductor

Horizon Orchestral Studio

Friday 24 July 2026 · 7:30 PM

Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium

Calvin Abdiel · Piano

Dubbed by The Australian as the “Piano Man”, Calvin Abdiel established himself as one of Australia’s leading young pianists at the 2021 Sydney International Piano Competition, where he became the youngest competitor and first Australian in nearly two decades to reach the Grand Final, receiving the George Frederick Boyle Third Prize and Nancy Weir Best Australian Pianist Prize. In 2024, he released his debut album, Themes and Variations, on Decca Australia. Following postgraduate studies at Hanns Eisler in Berlin with Eldar Nebolsin, Calvin continues to perform internationally as a soloist and chamber musician.

calvinabdiel.com

Hans Sangtoki · Conductor

Hans Sangtoki is a Sydney-based conductor, and founder of Horizon Orchestral Studio. The inaugural Honours candidate in Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music studying with Professor Benjamin Northey, his work explores the role of the conductor as artistic leader, educator, and cultural builder. Through Horizon, he seeks to create meaningful orchestral experiences that unite artistic excellence, mentorship, and public engagement while providing emerging conductors with access to real orchestral rehearsal and performance opportunities.

horizonorchestral.com/hans-sangtoki

About Horizon Orchestral Studio

Horizon Orchestral Studio is an emerging artistic development platform dedicated to forming conductors, musicians, and audiences through deeply human orchestral experiences rooted in mentorship, responsibility, artistic excellence, and cultural leadership.

Designed to bridge the gap between advanced training and professional practice, Horizon creates real rehearsal and performance opportunities for emerging conductors while presenting ambitious public performances that invite audiences into the depth, beauty, and emotional power of orchestral music.

horizonorchestral.com/studio