For the thirteenth edition, the Concert for Milan of Filarmonica della Scala returns with a new formula: Piazza Duomo is transformed into a large audience under the stars with 5000 seats available to the public free of charge upon reservation, the stage moves in front of the Cathedral, which becomes the suggestive scenography of the evening. As a tradition, the concert is entrusted to Principal Conductor Riccardo Chailly. The occasion marks the debut of Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino aka Cateen, as the 2.2 million followers on his social platforms know him: at just thirty years old, he is already a world star as well as an ambassador for a new approach to music.

In the program the great music of the twentieth century tells us a story: from the Russian opera Aleko by the young Sergei Rachmaninov  to the American musical with symphonic dances from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein, distant sound worlds follow a single expressive arc. At the center is the Concerto in F Major for piano and orchestra by George Gershwin, a masterpiece that combines symphonic language and jazz, alongside the curious music that Dmitry Shostakovich  wrote for the animated film Story of the Pope and his worker Balda, based on a fable by Pushkin.