Gil Shaham & the Sejong Sololists, Wigmore Hall

Founded in 1994, the Sejong Soloists have become one of America’s most renowned string orchestra. Boasting members from eight different countries, they are lauded for their polish, range and willingness to experiment. Who better, then to perform alongside the Grammy-winning violinist Gil Shaham, a musician of incredible charisma, sparkling virtuosity and the ability to switch from baroque to contemporary with astonishing ease?
Shaham and the soloists will with Wigmore Hall this November for an evening that balances the justifiably well-worn with the novel. To start, we have Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major, one of only two composed in his lifetime. It is a work of the profoundest joie de vivre, with a boundless vitality and invention only punctuated by an achingly gorgeous adagio. It will be followed by Krzysztof Penderecki’s Sinfonietta No. 1 (1992), an urgent, stabbing work that nevertheless flows with melody. The final piece, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (1720), needs little by way of introduction. It should serve as a fine showpiece for the musicians’ mastery.