Rousing virtuosity from Julia Fischer and Yulianna Avdeeva at the Tonhalle

Can one be artful and musical while playing at maximum volume? In a program of López, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, Rafael Payare and the Pittsburgh Symphony answer a resounding yes.

A fitting farewell for Leif Ove Andsnes' Rosendal Chamber Music Festival: imaginative programming and excellent performances in an inspiring setting. 

Teodor Currentzis, conducting the SWR Symphony Orchestra, and Yulianna Avdeeva do Prokofiev proud in his Third Piano Concerto and Fifth Symphony: all the colours of the rainbow delivered with sophistication, élan and boundless effervescence.

Javier Perianes beguiles and Yulianna Avdeeva surprises in Beethoven’s last two piano concertos. 

A shining cast and the première of a new violin concerto offered two highlights on this evening.

With Mahler’s arrangement of Bach orchestral suites and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, this concert showcased the many ways that composers have placed musical signatures on their work.