KRISTĪNE BALANAS. J.S. BACH. STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN.
On May 24 and 25, the Ola Foundation cultural venue will host the outstanding violinist Kristīne Balanas for a special and unforgettable concert. Her mastery, artistic talent, and sensuality have earned widespread acclaim, placing her among the world's leading violinists of her generation.
Both concerts will be special for their chosen program, featuring all the solo partitas and sonatas by the outstanding German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as for the instrument the musician will use - a legendary Stradivarius violin.
J.S. Bach's sonatas and partitas are unsurpassed masterpieces in the history of music. They possess exceptional depth and expressiveness while demanding the highest level of technical mastery from the musician. Many consider Bach's cycle of partitas and sonatas one of the most important cornerstones of European classical music, leaving an indelible mark on 20th-century music. It is fair to say that the entire solo violin repertoire after Bach, albeit indirectly, refers to these masterpieces of violin playing.
In her interpretations, Kristīne Balanas demonstrates that Bach's sonatas and partitas, with their timeless modernity, remain essential and relevant to contemporary listeners. Her playing illuminates the spiritual dimension of Bach's violin works, a quality inherent in all great music.
The concert will be performed on a legendary Stradivarius violin.
Antonio Stradivari is the world's most famous violin maker. He created around 1,000 violins - each a carefully crafted artistic masterpiece, appreciated by music lovers around the world for centuries. His violins have never been surpassed in excellence of sound, beauty, or precision of craftsmanship. One of these famous violins from the Stradivari family of instruments will be heard at both concerts, performed by virtuoso violinist Kristīne Balanas.
Program.
First evening, May 24, concert in two parts
Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001.
Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006.
Interval 30 minutes
Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005.
Second evening, May 25, concert in two parts
Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003.
Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002.
Interval 30 minutes
Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004.
Guests are invited to arrive from 6:15 p.m. for a glass of welcome wine and to view the current exhibitions. Currently on view are Edīte Pauls-Vīgnere's exhibition ‘’Age Plays’’ and the exhibition ‘’Alongside the Ideal’’, featuring 29 leading Latvian contemporary artists.
BIO
Violinist Kristīne BALANAS - one of the fastest-rising talents on the world's stages. The newspaper The Times has described her as a dazzlingly virtuosic musician. A laureate of the Latvian Great Music Award in the Young Artist of the Year category, she won 3rd prize at the International ARD Music Competition, received the Young Talent Award from the Queen Sofia School of Music Foundation in Spain, and the Director's Award from the Royal Academy of Music in London. “Untamed, daring, thrilling performance” - this is how the magazine The Strad describes Kristīne's playing.
She has performed in world-famous concert halls - the Berlin Philharmonie, London's Southbank Centre, and the Purcell, Barbican, and Carnegie Halls in New York, among others. As a soloist, she has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Paris Chamber Orchestra, Israel's Camerata Jerusalem, the Marche Philharmonic Orchestra in Italy, the Sendai Symphony Orchestra in Japan, Cardiff Sinfonietta , and many others.
