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With a vivid onstage presence, dazzling technique, and keen musicianship, pianist Olga Kern is widely recognized as one of the great artists of her generation, captivating audiences and critics alike. She was born into a family of musicians and began studying piano at the age of five. At seventeen, she was awarded first prize at the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition, and in 2001, she launched her U.S. career, winning a historic Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—the only woman in the last 50 years to do so.
A Steinway Artist, Olga is a laureate of several international competitions. In 2016 she was Jury Chairman of both Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and the first Olga Kern International Piano Competition, where she also holds the title of Artistic Director. In December 2021, Olga was Jury Chairman of the 1st Chopin Animato International Piano competition in Paris, France. In coming seasons, she will continue to serve on the juries of several high-level competitions. Olga frequently gives masterclasses and since 2017 has served on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Also in 2017, Olga received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (New York City). In 2019, she was appointed the Connie & Marc Jacobson Director of Chamber Music at the Virginia Arts Festival.
Olga’s discography includes a Harmonia Mundi recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Christopher Seaman; her Grammy-nominated disc of Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations and other transcriptions; and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Warsaw Philharmonic and Antoni Wit. Other notable releases include Chopin’s Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3, and SONY’s release of the Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello and Piano with Sol Gabetta. Olga released a new CD in 2022 on the Delos label of Brahms and Shostakovich quintets with the Dalí Quartet.
Cellist Nina Kotova has been praised by Gramophone as a “strong and individual artist” and by the Los Angeles Times as “a talent to reckon with- poised, committed, graceful and spirited.” Ms. Kotova is internationally recognized as one of the outstanding instrumentalists of her generation and has performed in recital and as a soloist with symphony orchestras across the globe throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and the US.
According to Newsweek magazine, “she‘s a fantastically gifted cellist.. and has a powerful stage presence.” Time magazine states: “She is a musician of high seriousness and real talent”. Ms. Kotova has also been the subject of numerous features in Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and the Wall Street Journal, The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, Hello magazine and has appeared on television on A&E’s “Breakfast with the Arts”, “Hard Talk” and the “Charlie Rose Show”. Ms. Kotova has featured on the covers of Classic FM, Gramophone China, Il Venerdi Italia and Reader’s Digest.
Nina Kotova has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, at Ravinia, Wigmore Hall, the Barbican Centre in London, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the Esplanade in Singapore, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Berlin Philharmonic, to name a few.
Among Ms. Kotova’s honors is the Tuscan – American Association award for her outstanding cultural contributions to Italy as co-founder of the Tuscan Sun Festival. Ms. Kotova also co-founded the Festival Del Sole/Festival Napa Valley in Napa Valley. She calls the Festivals “a mecca and meeting place for artists and admirers of the arts alike”.
Nina Kotova’s recordings include her chart-topping debut album for Philips Classics, the Bloch “Shelomo” alongside her own Cello Concerto conducted by Constantine Orbelian for Delos, the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton for Sony Classics, the Deutsche Grammophon compilation “Masters of the Bow”, which pays homage to the greatest cellists of the last 50 years, the Tchaikovsky Album with conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev and the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, and three albums for Warner Classics including the complete Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, the Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev Cello Sonatas with pianist Fabio Bidini, and the Romantic Recital Album with pianist Jose Feghali. Ms. Kotova’s newest album “Solo Cello” was released by Delos in 2023.
Most recently, Ms. Kotova co-founded and serves as the Artistic Director of Domus Artium, a series of concerts featuring the greatest classical musicians in historically significant palazzi and locations in Rome, Italy.
Viktoria Mullova studied at the Central Music School of Moscow and the Moscow Conservatoire. Her extraordinary talent captured international attention when she won first prize at the 1980 Sibelius Competition in Helsinki and the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1982 which was followed, in 1983, by her dramatic and much publicized defection to the West. She has since appeared with most of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and at the major international festivals. She is now known the world over as a violinist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity. Her curiosity spans the breadth of musical development from baroque and classical right up to the most contemporary influences from the world of fusion and experimental music.
1. Johann Sebastian Bach – Chaconne from Partita N. 2 for Violin Solo in D minor
Viktoria Mullova, Violin
2. Claude Debussy – Feux d’Artifice from Preludes Book II for Piano Solo
Olga Kern, Piano
3. Cesar Franck – Sonata in A major for Cello and Piano
Nina Kotova, Cello and Olga Kern, Piano
I. Allegretto ben moderato
II. Allegro
III. Recitativo-Fantasia (Ben Moderato)
IV. Allegretto poco mosso
4. Bela Bartok – Duos For Violin and Cello from 44 Duos for 2 Violins
Viktoria Mullova, Violin and Nina Kotova, Cello
10. Andante
11. Lento
14. Allegretto
28. Lento, poco rubato
26. Scherzando
33. Lento
35. Allegro
44. Allegro moderato
~~~~ Intermission ~~~~
5. Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody N. 10 in E major for Piano Solo
Olga Kern, Piano
6. Johannes Brahms – Sonata N. 3 in D minor for Violin and Piano op. 108
Viktoria Mullova, Violin and Olga Kern, Piano
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Un poco presto e con sentimento
IV. Presto agitato
