A concert featuring everything from a Bach Cello Suite to a world premiere, this programme brings a veritable mélange of music performed by experts of contemporary repertoire. Barbara Hannigan takes us to the Fin de Siécles by exploring the roots of modern music with composers who went on to lead a musical revolution, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Pekka Kuusisto bring us a world premiere by Peter Eötvös, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich deliver an explosive duet in a London premiere. 

Trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary, praised by Concertonet for her ​‘masterful technique in… smoothly delivered trills and arpeggios’, raises the curtain with Duke Ellington’s smooth In a Sentimental Mood.

Violinist Leticia Moreno introduces a Spanish flavour to the evening with a selection of the Canciones Populaires espagnolas accompanied by Daniel Kharitonov, followed by accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, called ​‘superbly subtle and virtuosic’ by The Arts Desk, who takes the stage with cellist Alban Gerhardt for a special arrangement of Piazzolla’s Grand Tango.

The starry line-up continues with soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan who joins pianist Tamara Stefanovich in songs from her prize-winning album Vienna: Fin de Siécle (Alpha Classics) featuring Wolf’s Goethe Lieder. 

The purity of a solo Bach cello suite (Alban Gerhardt) opens the second half and then, changing the mood, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Pekka Kuusisto, ground-breaking star violinists, combine in a wild selection of virtuosic duos. This includes the first performance of a short piece by Peter Eötvös written specially for the HP50 anniversary entitled For Lydia and based on the Lydian mode.

To conclude, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich perform the London premiere of Keyboard Engine, written especially for them by Sir Harrison Birtwistle. The San Francisco Chronicle commented: ​‘the overarching metaphor of a whirring, clacking machine helps illuminate the music’s rhythmic force…’In their US premiere of the work Musical America said: ​‘this was playing of jaw-dropping virtuosity, infused with that ineffable quality that raises less than one-in-a-hundred musical experiences into the realm of the sublime.’

This concert continues the 50 Years in a Day series celebrating music management agency HarrisonParrott’s 50^th anniversary. The day marks 50 golden years of music making featuring four inspiring generations of artists showcasing their musical tastes and talents across three thrilling concerts. 

The evening also marks the launch of the HarrisonParrott Foundation, a charity which aims to support and champion diversity and inclusivity within the arts.