Pianists in the Diamond: Julia Fischer (DE) and Yulianna Avdeeva (RU)
Two world stars in masterful interaction on violin and piano with violin sonatas by Handel, Respighi and Beethoven.
Programme
GF Handel: Violinonate in F Major, HWV 370 (1730)
Ottorino Respighi: Violin Sonata in B minor, P 110 (1917)
Break
LV Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47, “Kreutzer Sonata” (1803)
Violinist Julia Fischer is one of the great stars of the classical music world today, known for her versatility as a musician. Pianist Yulianna Avdeeva is celebrated for her fiery temperament and virtuosity on the piano. Both are internationally acclaimed musicians with great solo careers – and they share the same love for chamber music. This evening they will perform together in the Queen’s Hall and showcase their masterful and intuitive interplay in a varied program consisting of three violin sonatas from three centuries.
The concert begins with G. F. Handel's graceful violin sonata from 1730. Handel was the most famous composer of his time and is particularly known and loved for his great oratorio Messiah from 1741. His violin sonata, however, has a certain mystique surrounding it, as several modern scholars do not believe that it is Handel's work at all. There were some oddities surrounding its early publication, and therefore the work has today been labelled "spurious".
The work is followed by Ottorino Respighi’s large, dramatic sonata from 1917; the Italian composer’s first major chamber work,was met with great international acclaim. The sonata was first performed in Bologna in 1918 by Respighi’s old teacher, Federico Sarti, with Respighi himself at the piano. Delighted, he later wrote to one of his old friends: “Inni! Non faccio per dire, ma abbiamo suonato bene. Io compreso!” (“Lord be praised! I shouldn’t say it, but we played it well. Myself included!”).
The concert concludes with Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata from 1803; a monumental work dedicated to the violinist Rudolphe Kreutzer. The work was first dedicated to the Afro-Polish violin virtuoso George Bridgetower, who premiered the work with Beethoven in 1803. However, it is said that they fell out – because before the work was published, Beethoven dedicated the sonata to Kreutzer instead. However, Kreutzer had little regard for the sonata and refused to play it. As a result, he never performed the sonata that now bears his name.
Cast
Since winning first prize at the International Yehudi Menuhin Competition in 1995 – a milestone in her career – Julia Fischer has performed with some of the world’s leading orchestras around the globe, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic. She has received high praise for her versatility as a musician as a violinist, pianist and teacher, and in 2010 founded the Julia Fischer Quartet, with which she continues to tour.
Yulianna Avdeeva won the Gold Medal at the 2010 International Chopin Piano Competition, bringing her great international acclaim. Today, she regularly performs in major concert halls across Europe, including the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She tours both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and performs with orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Dresden Philharmonic.
Part of the series Pianists in the Diamond
Photo: Laura Stamer
A handful of times a year we let the best pianists of the time get their hands on The Black Diamond's grand concert piano for a solo concert.
The event is part of the series Pianists in the Diamond.
Pianists in the Diamond is supported by the Beckett Foundation.
