Viktoria Mullova & Katia Labèque, St John's Smith Square

Katia Labèque is, along with her sister, half of the world’s most celebrated piano double-act, with over forty years of experience playing both enshrined canonical pieces and startling new music. Viktoria Mullova is a violinist of rare virtuosity and inventiveness, famed for both her recordings of Bach’s catalogue and her passion for recording jazz and pop music. Over their respective careers, they have made a habit of playing as a duo, and consequently know each other’s capabilities like few others. Together, their undeniable skill and flamboyant personalities bring a special thrill to each and every performance. For their 2015 visit to St John’s Smith Square, they will present a musical roster that spans three centuries.
The recital opens with Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 35 (1787), one of his great late works, before plunging into romanticism with Schumann’s Violin Sonata No. 1 (1851). Disliked somewhat by its own creator, it has since been acclaimed a masterwork, creating an uneasy yet richly lyrical sense of beauty from its two instruments. After a first movement of passionate intensity and a sweetly melodic allegretto, the sonata ends with a climax of startling frenzy that rushes towards an astounding climax.
After the interval, the pair venture off into post-war territory with Avro Pärt’s famed Fratres (1977), a piece of unfaltering enchantment that the composer himself has set to numerous different instruments. It will be followed by Toru Takumitsu’s early Distance de Fee (1951), which was inspired by the French textures of Debussy and Messiaen. The concert will close with Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2 (1923-7), which fuses the composer’s impressionistic textures with American jazz and blues. A more diverse programme is hard to imagine; on the strength of both musician’s careers, though, they look sure to handle it admirably.