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 Set I (I, III, II) from 24 Duos for violin and cello (2008)
KATE MOORE Song of Ropes, for solo cello (2017)
JÖRG WIDMANN Set II (XIV, VIII) from 24 Duos for violin and cello (2008)
KAIJA SAARIAHO Aure, for violin and cello (2015)
JÖRG WIDMANN Set III (VI, XXII) from 24 Duos for violin and cello (2008)
HOLLY HARRISON Ice Giant, for solo violin (2023)
JÖRG WIDMANN Set IV (XVI, XIII, XXI) from 24 Duos for violin and cello (2008)
IANNIS XENAKIS Dhipli Zyia (Double Symmetry), for violin and cello (1951)

Artists

Véronique Serret (violin)
Blair Harris (cello)

Contact the host of Avant Gardens: Double Symmetry (Alexandria) Presented by EO