| Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975) | Piano Trio no. 2 in E minor, Op.67 | |
| Messiaen, Olivier (1908-1992) | Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) |
| Alina Ibragimova | Violin |
| Marie-Elisabeth Hecker | Cello |
| Matthew Hunt | Clarinet |
| Cédric Tiberghien | Piano |
Two towering works of 20th-century chamber music, bringing together the violinist Alina Ibragimova and three of her closest colleagues.
Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is a work full of mystery, mysticism and uncompromising challenges for its four performers.
Its rapt, fascinating musical language broke new ground and eventually propelled its creator to fame – yet it was written and premiered while the French composer and his fellow musicians were inmates in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, Stalag VIIIA, in the depths of winter in January 1941.
A compelling backstory also haunts Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No.2: the composer combines Russian and Jewish folk themes in an emotional outpouring in memory of a recently deceased close friend.
In the hands of this multinational celebrity ensemble, these works become virtually a plea to unite humanity.