The Minería Symphony Orchestra’s 2026 Summer Season reaches its eighth program with three works in which the music seems to refuse to stay still.
"Trajín", by Alejandra Odgers, transforms a musical dialogue into orchestral energy. The Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff was composed in preparation for a tour of the United States and weaves an unforgettable, passionate dialogue between the piano and the orchestra. Finally, *Petrushka*, by Igor Stravinsky, turns a marionette into a character and a carnival fair into an intense soundscape.
Program 8 will be presented on Saturday, August 22, at 8:00 p.m. in the Silvestre Revueltas Hall at the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center and on Sunday, August 23, at 5 p.m. in the Main Hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Carlos Miguel Prieto, artistic director of the Minería Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the orchestra, with Ángel Stanislav Wang as the guest soloist in the Rachmaninoff concert.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of every moment of the program.
"Trajín," by Alejandra Odgers: When an Argument Turns into Turmoil
The History of Trajín begins with a much smaller project: *Discusión*, for viola and piano, which Alejandra Odgers wrote while participating in Mario Lavista’s composition workshop.
The piece was structured around the interplay between its two instruments and the dynamic and expressive contrasts that could arise from that interplay. Later, that same material would become his first orchestral work.
The composer herself defined Trajín as an expanded and orchestrated version of Discusión. The change in scale also transformed the character of the music: in the original piece, a highly intense rhythmic section appears toward the end; when transposing it for the orchestra, Odgers expanded that section and gave it much greater weight. From that sense of activity, movement, and agitation emerged the title Trajín.
There are two musical elements that structure much of the work: the tritone interval (two notes separated by three tones, which create a marked sense of tension) and the augmented chord (a chord with an open, unstable sound that seems to remain in suspense). Building on these, the composer develops a musical discourse in which contrast is no longer limited to just two instruments but expands to encompass the possibilities of the entire orchestra.
The National Preparatory School Orchestra performed a reading of the first orchestral version in 2000, when Odgers presented it for her professional composition exam. After hearing it, the composer revised the score and shortened some sections to give it greater formal coherence. Years later, while pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Montreal under José Evangelista, she revisited the piece.
Odgers' career has continued to unfold between Mexico and Canada. To learn more about her background, work, and projects, visit the Alejandra Odgers’ official website.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: On the Way to the United States
In 1909, Sergei Rachmaninoff was invited to tour the United States. By then, he was already recognized as a composer, pianist, and conductor, and works such as his Second Piano Concerto had helped spread his fame beyond Russia.
With that tour in mind, he began writing his Third Piano Concerto.
The work retains the traditional three-movement structure:
- Allegro ma non tanto
- Intermezzo: Adagio
- Finale: Alla breve
Two fast movements frame the slow central movement, but Rachmaninoff introduces an important feature: the Intermezzo flows directly into the Finale, without interruption. The second half thus seems to move in a single sweep toward the conclusion.
The concerto premiered in New York on November 28, 1909, with the New York Symphonic Society conducted by Walter Damrosch and Rachmaninoff himself at the piano. The Boston Symphony Orchestra maintains a historical entry on Piano Concerto No. 3, containing information about its composition and early performances.
But one of the most revealing episodes in the history of the work occurred shortly thereafter, when Rachmaninoff performed it again under the direction of Gustav Mahler.
The Russian composer was deeply impressed by Mahler's attention to detail. During the rehearsal, at a particularly difficult passage in the third movement, he even stopped the violins to discuss a bowing pattern; the rehearsal ended up lasting much longer than expected.
This anecdote helps us understand something fundamental about the concert: although the piano naturally takes center stage, the work is not merely a showcase for the soloist. The orchestra is part of a vast musical structure that demands precision and constant dialogue.
This work also found an unexpected audience outside of concert halls thanks to *Shine* (Scott Hicks, 1996), a film starring Geoffrey Rush that tells the story of pianist David Helfgott.
If you'd like to continue exploring this composer's world, you can also read What Music Tells Us, in which Rachmaninoff is featured through his Symphonic Dances.
Ángel Stanislav Wang: solo pianist
Ángel Stanislav Wang is one of the most prominent young voices on the international piano scene. At age 23, he has received more than 35 international awards and has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, and the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
Among his most notable awards are the first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, the Silver Medal at the 17th International Tchaikovsky Competition, and his participation as the youngest finalist in the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
And there is a particularly relevant background to this concert.
On June 6, 2025, Wang reached the final round of the Van Cliburn Competition by performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3,, accompanied by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Marin Alsop. The Cliburn Foundation has that performance by Angel Stanislav Wang available online.
Petrushka, by Igor Stravinsky: a puppet that drives the orchestra to distraction
Before it became a ballet, Petrushka was something else.
As she was getting ready to board The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky decided to work first on an orchestral piece in which the piano would play a major role. As he was writing, a very specific image appeared in his mind: a puppet that suddenly comes to life.
The piano unleashes cascades of arpeggios; the orchestra responds with menacing bursts from the trumpets. The confrontation builds to a climax and ends with the puppet’s collapse.
Stravinsky sought a name that would capture the essence of that creature. He finally settled on Petrushka, the famous character from Russian folk fairs.
Shortly thereafter, Serge Diaghilev visited the composer and was so impressed with the piece that he suggested developing it into a full-length ballet.
The story then unfolded around a carnival fair: the crowd, the stalls, a small theater, a magician, and three puppets that come to life. At the center is Petrushka, accompanied by his rival, the Moor, and the Dancer. This love triangle leads to a tragic love story that ends with the protagonist’s death.
To develop the libretto and the staging, Stravinsky worked with Alexandre Benois. The production brought together several key figures from the Ballets Russes: Serge Diaghilev as producer, Michel Fokine as choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky as one of the principal dancers, and Pierre Monteux as the musical director.
Monteux would go on to become deeply connected to Stravinsky's music. You can learn more about his work in our article What Does a Conductor Do?: The Example of Pierre Monteux.
Petrushka premiered on June 13, 1911, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The reception, however, was not the same everywhere: when it arrived in Vienna in January 1913, it was met with notable hostility from the audience, musicians, and critics, while in London and New York it fared better.
From an argument to a carnival fair
Program 8 brings together three ways to transform tension into movement.
Alejandra Odgers takes the contrast between two instruments as her starting point and expands it until it becomes a flurry . Rachmaninoff crafts a concerto in which the piano and orchestra engage in a dialogue of immense intensity. Stravinsky takes that confrontation into the realm of theater: a puppet comes to life, challenges the orchestra, and an entire fair is transformed into music.
With Carlos Miguel Prieto as director and Ángel Stanislav Wang as guest soloist, the Minería Symphony Orchestra presents a program ranging from contemporary Mexican compositions to the great Romantic concert, and from there to the theatrical and colorful world of Stravinsky.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, August 22, at 8:00 p.m. in the Silvestre Revueltas Hall at the Ollin Yoliztli Cultural Center and on Sunday, August 23, at 5 p.m. in the Main Hall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
Check out all the details for Program 8 and buy your tickets.
