What happens when you put two artists together on a stage that each of them individually has a slightly too spacious format? Do they partially merge or do they undergo nuclear fission? There is no more suitable couple to complete the experiment than violinist Patricia Kopachinskaya and cellist Pieter Wispelwey. First both are allowed to enjoy themselves on their own, and in very different time periods. Kopatishinskaya does this in a 'solo sonata for violin' by Pisendel (1687-1755), an almost exact contemporary of Bach (1685-1750), and a new work that the Handelsbeurs ordered for her from the young Flemish composer Matthijs Van Damme. Wispelwey chooses works by two of the most playing people in music history: Bach's 'second cello suite' and Ligeti's '
solo sonata' (1923-2006) . The great Hungarian Kodály (1882-1967) is next with the 'Duo' that Kopatishinskaya and Wispelwey perform. The crowning touch is the 'Sonata for violin and cello'by Ravel (1875-1937), without a doubt the man's most progressive work, which still sounds particularly challenging today.
