Cast
Program notes
Generously supported by Madame Aline Foriel-Destezet
Leonidas Kavakos burst on the scene as a teenaged virtuoso, winning prestigious prizes in competitions all over the world, and has gone on to solidify his sterling reputation as one of the most prodigious violinists of his generation. Since 2007 he has taken part in the Verbier Festival, and we’ve witnessed his technical skills as they continue to defy the limits of possibility with interpretations that grow in profundity and substance.
After a powerful, incisive rendition of Erich Korngold’s almost cinematic Violin Concerto, Kavakos guides us through more masterpieces of the violin repertoire, combining well-known pieces—exquisite chamber music moments with Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms—with rarely heard gems, like a dreamy Violin Sonata by Respighi and a ferocious one by Janáček. Each work comes vividly to life in the hands and bow of Kavakos and his brilliant partners: Gautier Capuçon, Antoine Tamestit, Yuja Wang, Nikolai Lugansky, Yuja Wang, Anne-Sophie Mutter (with a milestone performance of Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano!), Denis Matsuev, and Joshua Bell, to name a few!
