A world premiere with Sol Gabetta and Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Sol Gabetta, Violoncello
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Violin
Gstaad Festival Orchestra
Kristjan Järvi, Artistic Direction
Recorded on 15 August 2015 in the festival tent in Gstaad
A quote by Mark Anthony Turnage:
„Dialogue is a lyrical double concerto for violin and cello soloists accompanied by strings and percussion. The overall feeling is simple and light with rhythms close to folk music. The opening pair of movements are fairly short, the first being an argument between the two soloist while the second is a poignant love duet. The last movement is a set of variations which is more expansive in scope and lasts as long as the first two movements combined. The language is at times tonal with each variation moving in different key areas working up to an emphatic climax and concluding with a very lyrical coda.“
Patricia Kopatchinskaja – Sol Gabetta
Patricia Kopatchinskaja – Sol Gabetta: Two outstanding artists with incredible careers. They could simply stick to the repertoire their instruments offer. But they both love the music way too much: They always aim at discovering new and challenging masterpieces. The two friends have chosen to enlarge the momentarily rather modest repertoire for violin and cello. And what better place could they find to experiment with and uncover new and exciting music? Christoph Müller, the Menuhin Festival’s artistic director, encourages the two exceptional musicians to develop personal projects and re-define their artistic boundaries.
«We’re like sisters»
In 2014 Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta presented their audience in Saanen with their first premiere: They commissioned the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks to write them a duet. Two years later, he wrote a cello concerto for Sol Gabetta. Patricia Kopatchinskaja confirms that the two of them understand each other without words. «We’re like sisters, on stage as well as in private. We’ve been playing together for more than ten years and we never had to talk much about our work, we simply connect with each other. Sol’s timbre and her irresistible way of expressing herself keep inspiring me just like they did years ago when we both started out.»
Another premiere and a social media campaign
In the following year they asked the English composer Mark Anthony Turnage to write music not only for cello and violin, but also for an orchestra accompanying them. Turnage immediately sensed the perfect symbiosis between the artists Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta and created a “Dialogue”, adding a harp and a few drums. Kristian Järvi and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra’s strings joined them in what turned out to be a typical «Menuhin Festival» adventure for these singular artists.
Their latest collaboration is called Take Two II: Sol Gabetta and Patricia Kopatchinskaja launched a competition on social media, searching for the best fresh and novel music. They chose four pieces for cello and violin and premiered them on July 30 2018 in Zweisimmen.