Music al British

The inaugural concert for our new Music al British series will feature acclaimed international violinist Elvira Bekova:

Elvira Bekova  -  Violin

Ivan Sokolov  -  Pianoforte

 

Programme

Beethoven  -  Sonata  for violin and piano, Opus 47 “Kreutzer” 

Igor Stravinsky  -  Divertimento  from the themes of the ballet “Fairy’s Kiss” 

 

Notes 

The history of the Violin Sonata No.9 in A Major (the "Kreutzer" Sonata) is old and highly mythologized. Beethoven originally wrote the Sonata for a young virtuoso named George Bridgetower, who premiered it with Beethoven to the composer's great pleasure. Apparently the two later had a quarrel over a romantic interest, and Beethoven decided he would rather dedicate the sonata to Rodolphe Kreutzer, the French violinist with whom he collaborated years earlier. According to Hector Berlioz, Kreutzer found this sonata "outrageously unintelligible", but others since have disagreed. Leo Tolstoy, for one, took particular interest in the sonata, depicting it as  holding a special power to arouse erotic feelings in his novella '' The Kreutzer Sonata". Beethoven published the "Kreutzer" with the title "almost in the manner of concerto'', emphasizing the importance of the violinist as well as the sonata's extreme virtuosity.

 

(Ethan Allred)

 

Igor Stravinsky's Divertimento for Violin and Piano (1932) is one of a number of spin-offs from the composer's ballet Le baiser de la fée (The Fairy's Kiss, 1928). Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s short story The Ice-Maiden, the work was composed as an homage to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for the 35th anniversary of the composer's death. Stravinsky elaborated several melodies from early piano pieces and songs by Tchaikovsky in his score

In addition to the violin and piano work, Stravinsky also made an orchestral suite from the ballet (also titled Divertimento) in 1934. In 1932 Samuel Dushkin and the composer produced a version for violin and piano, using the same title

 

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Elvira Bekova (violin) has built a reputation as an outstanding soloist and chamber musician, distinguishing herself through the wide range of her repertoire and appearances in  major festivals and concert halls in the UK, continental Europe, USA, Canada, the Middle East and Australia. She is a member of The Bekova Trio which has won acclaim for both performances and their numerous recordings on the Chandos label.

Elvira Bekova is the artistic director of Music @ Felcino Bianco, which runs summer schools and other courses for professional musicians, academy students and amateur musicians

 

Ivan Sokolov (piano) was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1988.  He graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2013.  He is a sought-after pianist and composer who gives around 100 performances a year.  He is currently performing as a classical pianist as well as teaching the chamber ensemble classes in the Tchaikovsky Academic Music College at the Moscow State Conservatory and in the Musical College of Gnesinykh.