Katya Apekisheva has played for us on a number of occasions, but this will be Roman Mints' debut at the Festival.
The A major sonata is a fine example of Schubert’s early maturity - written when he was developing a new interest in Beethoven - with violin and piano given equal status. The mood is predominantly relaxed and genial, although the violin writing is challenging. Full of the composer’s characteristic lyricism and tenderness, this piece demands the players’ closest rapport.
Ysaÿe wrote his six violin sonatas in a fevered burst of inspiration in July 1923. They’re a deliberate hommage to Bach’s six Sonatas and Partitas and each was dedicated to a different contemporary violinist - this one to Jacques Thibaud. Though all require great technical expertise, the composer insisted they must be played with feeling and that the violinist, ‘must have run the gamut of the emotions in order to express them all in his playing.’
Desyatnikov comes from the post-Shostakovichgeneration of Russian composers and is very conscious of his musical heritage. Hedescribes himself as an ‘artisan’ who interprets the work of others and Wie der alte Leiermann as a ‘commentary’ on the last song in Schubert’s great Winterreise cycle. Commissioned by the violinist Gidon Kremer twenty years ago, the work can be seen in some sense as a musical portrait of this great musician.
During the last ten years of his life, Shostakovich wrote many of his greatest works, including his last three symphonies and half of his string quartets. His opus 134 sonata is among them.Written for the 60th birthday of violinist David Oistrakh, the first public performance took place in 1969 with Richter as accompanist. Its mood is typical of these late works - sombre and ending in an eerie chilliness. It’s a very powerful work, from a 20th century master.
This extremely talented Russian duo impress in both the classics and as interpreters of contemporary music. The Gramophone described Katya Apekisheva as ‘a profoundly gifted artist who has already achieved artistic greatness’, whilst Fanfare Magazine said that Roman Mints‘…proves himself a master storyteller as well as a superb violinist.’
Little Missenden Festival Website
Concert in memory of Michael Cox