Patricia Kopatchinskaja & Polina Leschenko Presented by Liszt Academy

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, one of today's most exciting violinists, has performed for Budapest audiences countless times as a soloist, but this time she returns as a chamber musician. Her partner on the podium will be Martha Argerich’s protégé, Russia’s Polina Leschenko, who has toured the world’s most prestigious concert halls from Amsterdam to Sydney, with Ivry Gitlis, Ilya Gringolts and Mischa Maisky among other renowned musicians. The result of the two-year professional relationship between the two artists was an album containing French and Hungarian compositions released in 2017, from which the works of two French composers are performed at the upcoming concert: Poulenc's sonata composed during World War II and dedicated to the memory of Federico García Lorca, and one of Ravel’s most famous pieces, which was inspired by Jelly d'Arányi. Composed in 1947 by John Cage, Nocturne, with its impressionist and experimental elements, is a short intermission between the two virtuoso compositions.  Born in the first half of the 20th century, George Enescu composed in the “Romanian folk style”, and one of his chamber works, which was already a great success at its premiere, is also part of the programme. The work later became even more widely known by being performed by famous artists like Dinu Lipatti or Yehudi Menuhin. The concert’s only work from another era is one of Clara Schumann’s last pieces, with its andante molto movement showing a lyrical, sensitive side of the composer.