Odessa Classics Tallinn. Aavik and Botvinov

Description

On the last night of the festival, we invite the audience to the Tubin Hall of the Heino Eller Music School in Tartu. Together with Alexey Botvinov, Hans Christian Aavik, one of the most prominent violinists of the younger generation in Estonia, will take the stage. Hans won the prestigious Carl Nielsen competition this spring.

The programme includes one of the first tintinnabuli-style works by Arvo Pärt – Fratres. Numerous versions of this work have been completed for various instruments.The audience will also be able to enjoy Cadenza and Theme by Ester Mägi.The motet O Magnum Mysterium originally written for mixed choir by the American composer Morten Lauridsen will also be performed.The concert will end with the Violin Sonata by César Franck, still one of the most performed works in his repertoire.

Hans Christian Aavik is one of the most outstanding violinists of the younger generation in Estonia, who has stood out both in Estonia and in many parts of Europe with his versatile style and distinctive sound. This spring, he won first place and special prizes at the Carl Nielsen Violin Competition in Denmark. In 2021, his debut album AETERNUS was released with pianist Karolina Zhukova. Hans Christian has completed many master classes. In 2013 and 2014, he was selected to participate in the Summer Academy of Young Musicians at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, where he was the concertmaster under Daniel Harding, Dima Slobodeniouk, and other renowned conductors. As a soloist, he has performed with several orchestras both in Estonia and in Europe. Hans Christian Aavik currently plays on a Giovanni Paolo Maggini violin (made in about 1610 in Brescia, Italy) and a bow made by Victor Fétique (made in about 1930 in France) with the kind permission of the Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments and the Sapožnin family. Hans Christian Aavik has been a scholarship holder of the Deutschlandstipendium since 2020, and has been supported by Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Frankfurt am Main since 2019.

Alexey Botvinov (Oleksi Botvinov in Ukrainian) is the most renowned pianist of Ukraine, an active musician, and a producer. He is considered the best performer of Rachmaninoff in the world, and he also holds the unofficial record for performing Goldberg Variations by Bach – he has performed this cornerstone of piano music more than 300 times. Alexey Botvinov has given solo concerts and performed with renowned symphony orchestras in many prestigious concert halls around the world, including long and successful tours. Botvinov is trying to discover new ways to introduce classical music. He has brought a number of innovative concert projects to the audience, where the traditional piano solo evening has been enriched with the possibilities of multimedia or drama. Since 2015, Botvinov has been organising the prestigious classical music festival Odessa Classics in Ukraine and Eastern Europe as the artistic director.

Programme

Arvo Pärt
Fratres

Morten Lauridsen
O Magnum Mysterium

Ester Mägi
Cadenza and Theme

César Franck
Violin Sonata