Gidon Kremer & Concerto Budapest

This concert conducted by András Keller will feature sounds of melancholy and others that encourage reflection and profound introspection. The opening piece for the concert will be Samuel Barber’s deservedly popular Adagio for Strings, providing us with an opportunity for emotion and stirring reflection. In keeping with the contemporary composer’s inimitable style, Philip Glass’s 2010 Double Concerto will present the listener with some moments of contemplation, though this performance of the 30-minute violin and cello-centred composition is also bound to evoke sentiments of exultant joy as the violin soloist, the marvellous Gidon Kremer, works closely alongside the superb Lithuanian cellist Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė. We will then hear a second performance from Kremer as we enjoy the noble verve of Schubert’s Polonaise in B-flat major. Beethoven admitted that he composed the fifth movement of his late String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major with tears in his eyes. This is entirely credible given that the moving cavatina, which is also highly effective as an orchestral piece, is the epitome of pained beauty. The composition finds an ideal partner in the second half of the concert with a performance of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.