July 24, 2019, 8 PM
Great Hall of the Dzintari Concert Hall
Piano Concerto No. 1 by Tchaikovsky and Violin Concerto by Mendelssohn
Performers: Kristīne Balanas (violin), George Harliono (piano, United Kingdom), Jūrmala festival orchestra, conductor Ainārs Rubiķis
Programme: Piano Concerto No. 1 by Tchaikovsky and Violin Concerto by Mendelssohn in E minor, Op. 64
Two part concert with intermission
Tchaikovsky’s piano concert and Mendelssohn’s violin concert both overflow with a silvery romantic delight. Opuses, where the piano and violin can dazzle, captivate and excite.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
Violinist Kristīne Balanas is one of those Latvian musicians, who gradually opened the gates to the world stage. Kristīne has performed with her violin at the Berlin and Philharmonie de Paris, Barbican Centre in London and other prestigious concert halls. “The Times” described the Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas as a “dazzling virtuoso”. Kristīne returns to Dzintari Concert Hall with the Mendelssohn’s violin concert, which was performed in December. It combines the most characteristic features of the composer – lyrics, pastoral beauty and wonderful clarity. A piece that lives in the golden repertoire of violinists and delights with its magic.
The young British pianist George Harliono performed his first solo concert at the age of nine. The famous Russian pianist Denis Matsuev said: “George is extremely talented. A bright future awaits him!” Horliono has performed in prestigious concert venues such as Wigmore Hall and Royal Albert Hall in London, Chicago Symphony Hall and others. Collaborated with the conductors Valery Gergiev, Alexander Sladkovsky, Francesco Milioto. The British pianist has a special connection with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concert. This piece, that shows the power of light, has become one of the icons of Russian classical music, and, in 2016, George Harliono performed it in the famous Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The concert was broadcast live on Russian National Television and the prestigious Medici.tv music channel.
Kristīne Balanas
ViolinA musician of “eye-popping virtuosity” (The Times), Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas is a 3rd prize laureate of the 66th International ARD Music Competition, 2018 Young Artist of the Year in the Grand Music Awards of her home country, and recipient of the Fundacion Excelentia Young Talent Award from Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain.
Soloist with some of the world’s leading orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, countless others), with frequent guest appearances at the Berliner Philharmonie, Southbank Centre, and Carnegie Hall. Her head-turning transformation from a street musician and Rock-n-Roll singer in Latvia to a graduate with honors of the Royal Academy of Music where she studied under György Pauk, and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, under Kolja Blacher, in demand for her “savage, bold, dramatic” (The Strad) playing, marks her as an entirely idiosyncratic presence on the stage.
