Ilya Gringolts and Peter Laul perform Stravinsky, Roslavets, and Franck

Violinist Ilya Gringolts joins forces with pianist Peter Laul at the 2026 Tsinandali Festival in an electrifying program blending Modernism with late Romanticism. Premiering in 1910, Stravinsky and Diaghilev’s ballet The Firebird narrated the demise of the villainous Katshei the Immortal, conquered by Prince Ivan and the mythical Firebird. Later transcriptions of the score included violin and piano arrangements of the “Prélude et Ronde des princesses,” “Berceuse,” and “Scherzo”: Gringolts and Laul effectively conjure the dazzling, dreamlike atmosphere of these movements. Widely considered the Russian Schoenberg, Nikolai Roslavets wrote his Violin Sonata No. 4 in 1920, using his unique “synthetic chord” technique to craft a one-movement work of explosive Expressionist intensity. The atmosphere transforms with the lush textures of César Franck’s Violin Sonata in A Major. Originally conceived as a lyrical wedding gift for violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, the work is now celebrated as one of the greatest sonatas ever written.

Photo © Crans-Montana Classics / Chab Lathion