On December 17 at 7 p.m., violinist Kristīne Balanas and cellist Margarita Balanas will return to the stage of Liepāja Concert Hall "Grat Amber" with a double concert. At the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra conductor's desk – maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius.
The charming Balanas Sisters have dazzled audiences and earned enthusiastic reviews from critics around the world, performing together and separately. Growing up in Dobele, but now both live in the UK and are among the brightest musicians of their generation.
The Times has described Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas as a musician of “eye-popping virtuosity”. She is one of the fastest thriving talents on world stages, winner of the prestigious Latvian Great Music Award in the category "Young Artist of the Year".
Her sister, cellist Margarita Balanas, on the other hand, is one of the most exciting and versatile artists of this time, who charms listeners all over the world with her mastery. Margarita is the winner of many international competitions and actively performs as a soloist in Europe and the world.
The evening program will feature compositions by two great representatives of romanticism – not only the last orchestra opus Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra by the German composer Johannes Brahms, but also the last work "Symphonic Dances" by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, which is at the same time a compilation of Rachmaninoff's entire creative work.
"This will be our first time playing Brahms's Double Concerto in Latvia. So far we have played it several times on European tours, but we are very happy looking forward to this concert," says Balanas Sisters, who have performed with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra separately this year. “The composition is intense, technically demanding and virtuoso for both cello and violin. We understand each other very well, because we have played a lot together since childhood. It seems that we can communicate even telepathically, and this helps us a lot when playing – both in terms of harmony and spontaneity in concerts.”
