COE tour with Leonidas Kavakos
31 March - 10 April 2019
Programme
The Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Leonidas Kavakos join forces on tour to France, Italy and Switzerland this April. On the 3rd in Bordeaux and on the 5th in Turin, they will perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, Symphony No. 31 ‘Paris’ and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’. On the 8th in Geneva and the 9th in Zurich there is a variation in programme with Schoek’s Sommernacht op. 58, a piece for string orchestra composed in 1945 by the Swiss composer replacing Mozart’s Symphony No. 31. Both concerts in Switzerland are part of the highly successful Migros Classics concert series, whose aim is to make classical music widely accessible at a modest price.
Leonidas and the COE
Over the last 7 years, super-star violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavakos has explored his twofold vocation with the COE by leading many play-conduct concerts in Dijon, Oviedo, Lisbon, Lucerne and most recently in Seoul, Paris and Amsterdam. He first appeared with the COE as a soloist under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher in performances of Stravinsky’s Concerto in D major at the Cologne Philharmonie in 2002. Indeed, going further back in time, Leonidas has known many COE members since his student days. The strong musical connection and relationship has become very important and special over the years, as exemplified by Leonidas’s interview and the COE musicians’ testimonials below.
Short interview with Leonidas Kavakos (Lotte Hall, Seoul, March 2018)
“Working with Leonidas Kavakos is always inspiring, interesting and demanding. Although we have performed Beethoven Symphony No.3 with him several times before, I look forward to finding out what he is thinking about now, which little details he wants to draw our attention to, and to continuing to develop our interpretation of this great piece together with Leonidas.”
Lucy Gould, Co-Principal Second Violin
“Playing with Leonidas is always a positive challenge, his musicianship and thoughts on even standard repertoire are deeply-felt and unique and he always leaves me ‘re-thinking’ the ‘unthinkable’.”
Will Conway, Co-Principal Cello
