Carnegie Hall replaces Putin pianist

Denis Matsuev has been fired. His replacement is a Chopin winner:

Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra today jointly announced that pianist Seong-Jin Cho will step in for Denis Matsuev, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall tonight, Friday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. This evening’s all-Rachmaninoff program is the first of three performances with Maestro Nézet-Séguin and the orchestra taking place at Carnegie Hall this weekend with concerts also scheduled for Saturday, February 26 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, February 27 at 2:00 p.m. As announced yesterday, Yannick Nézet-Séguin replaces Valery Gergiev for these concerts.

Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are deeply grateful to Seong-Jin Cho who agreed to fly from Berlin on very short notice for tonight’s performance.