Leonidas Kavakos & Yuja Wang

Leonidas Kavakos & Yuja Wang

NOV 6 | Cobb Great Hall

Program

Opus 3 Artists presents

LEONIDAS KAVAKOS, violin & YUJA WANG, piano

Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Keyboard in E major, BWV 1016
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685 – 1750)
Adagio
Allegro
Adagio ma non tanto
Allegro

Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in E minor, Op. 36a
FERRUCCIO BUSONI (1866 - 1924)
Langsam
Presto
Andante piuttosto grave

Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 134
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 – 1975)
Andante
Allegretto
Largo – Andante


Tonight’s program will run approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.


Mr. Kavakos records exclusively for Sony Classical.
Ms. Wang records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon.

Bios

LEONIDAS KAVAKOS

Violinist and Conductor

Leonidas Kavakos is recognized as a violinist and artist of rare quality, known for his virtuosity, musicianship and the integrity of his playing. He works with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier recital halls and festivals. By age 21, Kavakos had won three major competitions: the Sibelius (1985), Paganini, and Naumburg competitions (1988). This success led to his recording the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903/4), the first recording of this work in history, which won Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991.

Kavakos is a Carnegie Hall “Perspectives” Artist in 21/22, performing in a variety of concerts over the season, which includes a recital with pianist Yuja Wang; the North American premiere of a violin concerto by composer Unsuk Chin, written for Mr. Kavakos and co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony, London Symphony, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; and a chamber music trio concert with Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. The recital program with Ms. Wang will be toured across the U.S. in November 2021 with performances in Georgia (Atlanta and Athens); Chicago, East Lansing, Lincoln (NE), San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Berkeley. The Ax-Kavakos-Ma trio will also give concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and Stony Brook NY, in addition to their Carnegie Hall performance in March 2022.

In recent years, Kavakos has succeeded in building a strong profile as a conductor, and this season will return to the Dallas Symphony to lead a program of Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony. As conductor, he has collaborated with the New York Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Gürzenich Orchester, Vienna Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Filarmonica Teatro La Fenice, and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

Leonidas Kavakos is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classics. Recent releases from the Beethoven 250th Anniversary year include the Beethoven Violin Concerto which he conducted and played with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and the re-release of his 2007 recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas with Enrico Pace, for which he was named Echo Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year. Kavakos was awarded Gramophone Artist of the Year 2014 and the 2017 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark’s highest musical honor.

Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Greece, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber music masterclass in his native city, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734.

YUJA WANG

Piano

Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but for her spontaneous and lively performances, famously telling The New York Times “I firmly believe every program should have its own life and be a representation of how I feel at the moment.” Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in her performance of the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 at Carnegie Hall’s Opening Night Gala in October 2021, following its historic 572 days of closure.

Yuja was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’ Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

As a chamber musician, Yuja has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists, notably violinist Leonidas Kavakos, with whom she has recorded the complete Brahms violin sonatas and will be performing duo recitals in America, of which this performance is one. In 2022, Yuja embarks on a highly anticipated international recital tour, which sees her perform in world-class venues across North America, Europe and Asia, astounding audiences once more with her flair, technical ability and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging program to include Bach, Beethoven and Schoenberg.

Download the program PDF
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