Fiery and charismatic Italian violinist Lorenza Borrani, who delighted audiences on her last tour here in 2016, returns to lead a program of emotion-charged music.
Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No.1 is a dark and brooding masterpiece written during World War II. Prokofiev said to the pianist he was coaching for its premiere: “It should sound in such a way that people should jump in their seat, and people will say ‘Is he out of his mind?’” Written for violin and piano, it has been arranged for violin and strings by Borrani herself.
Alongside Prokofiev’s sonata is an arrangement of Beethoven’s last String Quartet, Op.135, written only a few months before his death. Its transitions from joy to vulnerability to melancholy – sometimes within a single movement – are immensely moving and thought-provoking.
In between these powerful works, Bulgarian-British composer Dobrinka Tabakova’s Such Different Paths offers a radiant interlude evoking life’s journey.
