Avant Gardens: Double Symmetry (Alexandria)

Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür once said you don’t need a full orchestra to create a powerful soundscape, and in this intimate salon concert, Véronique Serret and Blair Harris show how a violin and a cello can create the richness and power of a string quartet – synergy and symmetry in action

Their program plays to the drama of contrasts – from the tensions between tonal and atonal in Tüür’s fiercely uncompromising Synergie, to the juxtapositions of shimmering mellifluousness of Kaija Saariaho’s Aure, and the sense of attraction and rejection in Jörg Widmann’s Duos. Osvaldo Golijov gives the cello a free fantasy on ‘My Beloved Buenos Aires’ in his moody and sinuous homage to tango singer Carlos Gardel. Holly Harrison turns her imagination to the planet Neptune in a brilliant solo, composed for Serret, that’s part bluegrass fiddle, part heavy metal guitar. And an early work by Iannis Xenakis unifies the duo once again for an energetic, folk-infused finale in the spirit of Béla Bartók.

“Throughout the performance, Serret’s mastery of her instrument was undeniable, …her performance was seamless… a creative vision unbound by convention…Magic.”
- Classikon

Program

ERKKI-SVEN TÜÜR Synergie, for violin and cello (2010)
JÖRG WIDMANN Selections from 24 Duos for violin and cello (2008)
OSVALDO GOLIJOV Omaramor, for solo cello (1991)
KAIJA SAARIAHO -  Aure,  for violin and cello (2011)
HOLLY HARRISON Ice Giant, for solo violin (2023)
IANNIS XENAKIS Dhipli Zyia (Double Symmetry), for violin and cello (1951)

Artists

Véronique Serret (violin)
Blair Harris (cello)