Programme:
Johannes Brahms: Scherzo for Violin and Piano in C minor, WoO posth. 2 (3rd movement of F-A-E sonata)
César Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, FWV 8
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Alexey Shor: Violin sonata No. 1
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in D major, Op. 94bis

The world-class violinist Maxim Vengerov, who began his musical career at the age of five, can boast an impressive string of more than 3,000 concerts that have taken him all around the world. His first studio album was released by Melodia when he was only ten years old, and his discography now includes more than 40 CDs. Maxim is also known as an outstanding teacher, sharing his knowledge with students at the Royal Academy of Music in London since 2005. In 1997 he was recognised as the first classical musician to become a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and in 2004 he became a BRIT Classical award winner. The pianist and conductor Vag Papian began his career in 1979 after winning the Vianna da Motta International Competition in Lisbon, and later graduated from the renowned Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 1984, at the invitation of Valery Gergiev, he became the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra’s first conductor and later its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. He has conducted many renowned orchestras around the world, and regularly collaborates with Maxim Vengerov as a concert partner. Together they have performed on numerous stages in Europe, the USA and the Far East, and recorded a CD for EMI Classic. Vag is currently a guest conductor at the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and professor at the Samuel Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. The programme of two exceptional musicians will open with Johannes Brahms’ fiery Scherzo, written by the 20-year-old German composer as part of the sonata commissioned by Robert Schumann as a gift for the great violinist Josef Joachim. This will be followed by César Franck’s Sonata in A major,  one of the composer’s best-known and most highly regarded works. In the second part, the duo will present the Violin Sonata No. 1  by Alexey Shor. This three-movement piece focuses on tonal elegance and is interspersed with technically demanding passages that highlight the virtuosity of both musicians. The evening will be crowned by Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major,  premiered in 1944 and based on the Flute Sonata  originally written by the composer in 1943.

• In 1984, at the age of 10, Maxim Vengerov won the Karol Lipiński International Violin Competition and Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin, Poland
• as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Maxim Vengerov has performed for children in Uganda, Thailand and Kosovo
• his documentary film Playing by Heart was screened at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival
• in 2003 he won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with orchestra)
• Vag Papian has worked with many renowned conductors, including Valery Gergiev and Mikhail Pletnev
• he appears with Maxim Vengerov in the 2004 film The Fever