Elisso Gogibedaschwili & Konstantin Lifschitz: Concert for violin & piano

The internationally renowned pianist and professor of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Konstantin Lifschitz has gained a reputation for playing sophisticated masterpieces with great honesty and exceptional beauty. The audience of Technopolis 20 Classics had the opportunity to experience his performance in the past and two years later he returns to Paphos for only one concert in Paphos.

Konstantin Lifschitz is joined on stage by the young and gifted violinist Elisso Gogibedaschwili to present a music evening that will include works by Karol Szymanowski, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms.

The concert will take place at Markideio Theatre, on Tuesday, October 3, at 8pm.

The programme to be performed will include:

Karol Szymanowski: Violin Sonata, Op.9, in D minor

Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Sonata, Op. 12, No. 3 in E flat major

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Claude Debussy: Violin Sonata in G minor, L148

Johannes Brahms: Violin Sonata, Op. 108, No. 3 in D minor

 

Entrance: €20 / €7 students

Tickets, Information, Reservations at 70002420.

Supporter: Pafos Municipality

Hospitality Sponsor: Coral Beach Hotel & Resort

Media Sponsor: Cyprus Mail

Sponsors: Photo Larko

 A few words about the musicians

“To say that Mr. Lifschitz made his playing look easy would not be quite accurate. What he offered was a performance of such poetry that the question of whether executing it was difficult hardly came to mind.” (New York Times)

“Lifschitz maximised the instrument's potential for colour and tonal variety…the gentle, unshowy authority of his stage manner, that he was most persuasive, emphasising the work's qualities as living music as opposed to historic monument.” (The Guardian)

 “This was due to Lifschitz's sovereign technique. Variations of touch, tone and pedalling were not only sensitive, with bell-like upper lines and beautifully weighted chordal sonorities, but almost invariably functional, highlighting structural change. It was the most magical moment in a deeply satisfying evening.” (The Independent)

Konstantin Lifschitz has established a worldwide reputation for performing extraordinary feats of endurance with honesty and persuasive beauty. He is giving recitals and playing concertos in the world’s leading concert halls and orchestras, besides being an active recording artist. His performance was praised as “the most magical moment” and “deeply satisfying” by The Independent, and “naturally expressive and gripping” by the New York Times

Born in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1976, at the age of five, Konstantin Lifschitz was enrolled in the Gnessin Special School of Music in Moscow as a pupil of Tatiana Zelikman. After graduating he continued his studies in Russia, England and Italy where his teachers included Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, Theodor Gutmann, Hamish Milne, Charles Rosen, Karl-Ulrich Schnabel, Vladimir Tropp, Fou T’song and Rosalyn Tureck, mostly at the Lieven International Piano Foundation.

In the early 1990s, Konstantin Lifschitz received a grant from the Russian Cultural Foundation. Around that time, he started to perform in European Musical capitals such as Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Munich and Milan. He toured Japan with The Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov, while in Europe he toured with the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, and also performed with Mischa Maisky and Gidon Kremer in many European cites. In 1995 he received the ECHO Klassik Award of “The Best Emerging Artist of the Year” for his first recording, and the following year he was nominated for a Grammy award for Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

Since his sensational debut recital in the October Hall of the House of Unions in Moscow at the age of 13, Konstantin Lifschitz performs solo recitals at major festivals and the most important concert venues worldwide and appears with leading international orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, RAI National Symphony Orchestra or Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

As a soloist Konstantin Lifschitz has collaborated with leading conductors such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, Yury Temirkanov, Sir Neville Marriner, Bernard Haitink, Sir Roger Norrington, Fabio Luisi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Marek Janowski, Eliahu Inbal, Mikhail Jurowsky, Andrey Boreyko, Dimitry Liss, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alexander Rudin and Christopher Hogwood.

As a chamber musician, Konstantin Lifschitz has collaborated with such artists as Gidon Kremer, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Misha Maisky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Natalia Gutman, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Lynn Harrell, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Daishin Kashimoto, Leila Josefowicz, Carolin und Jörg Widmann, Sol Gabetta, Eugene Ugorski, Alexander Knyazev and Alexander Rudin.

Recently he gave solo recitals at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Moscow Philharmonic Hall and Tchaikovsky Hall, La Sala Verdi Milano, St. Petersburg Mariinsky and Novosibirsk Great Hall and many others. He is also invited by numerous festivals including Tokyo Spring Festival, Rancho La Puerta's Music Festival, XII Mariinsky International Piano Festival, London Piano Festival, Würzburg Bachtage and Musiktage Höri Bodensee, where he serves as an honorary patron.

In the season 2022-23 highlight includes his return to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tchaikovsky Hall and Moscow Concert Hall "Zaryadye" for solo recitals, Bach Cycles in Kaohsiung and Taipei (total 9 concerts), play and lead concerts with the Chamber Orchestra "Musica Viva" and collaboration with the New Opera Orchestra (Moscow). He appears festivals such as Festival VERÃO CLÁSSICO, Festival Les Nuits Pianistiques Aix-en-Provence and Würzburger Bachtage.

Konstantin Lifschitz appears as a conductor with such ensembles and orchestras as Moscow Virtuosi, Century Orchestra Osaka, Solisti di Napoli Naples, Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Wernigerode, St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra Vilnius, Musica Viva Moscow, Lux Aeterna and Gabreli Choir Budapest, Dalarna Sinfonietta Falun and Chamber Orchestra Arpeggione Hohenems. Leading from the piano, he released all of Bach’s seven keyboard concertos with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra which let to another European tour. In 2019 he successfully led the China journey of the Lucerne Chamber Philharmony, which was founded and artistically directed by himself.

As a prolific recording artist, he has been releasing numerous CDs and DVDs, many of which have received exceptional reviews. Amongst them are 8 recordings for the Orfeo label including Bach’s Musical Offering, the St. Anne Prelude and Fugue and Three Frescobaldi Toccatas (2007), Gottfried von Einem Piano Concerto with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (2009), Brahms Second Concerto and Mozart Concerto K. 456 under Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2010), Bach The Art of Fugue (2010), the complete Bach Concertos for keyboard and orchestra with the Stuttgart Kammerorchester (2011), Goldberg Variations (2015) and “Saisons Russes” with works of Ravel, Debussy, Stravinsky and Jakoulov (2016). In 2008, a live recording of Lifschitz's performance of Bach Well-Tempered Clavier (Books I and II) at the Miami International Piano Festival was released on DVD by VAI. In 2014, Beethoven’s complete violin Sonatas with Daishin Kashimoto was released by Warner Classics. In 2020 to celebrate the composer’s 250 years jubilee Lifschitz released CD and Vinyl Box of Beethoven’s Complete 32 Piano Sonatas with Alpha Classics (Live recordings).

Konstantin Lifschitz is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London and has been appointed a professor of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts since 2008.

 

Elisso Gogibedaschwili was born in 2000 in Vorarlberg/Austria, in a multicultural family of musicians. Since the age of 6, she started winning first prizes at the Austrian Young Artists Competition “Prima la Musica” in the violin and piano categories as well as international competitions in Lithuania and Italy. After her soloist debut in 2010 with Max Bruch’s violin concerto with the MAV orchestra in Budapest it was the start of international engagements as a soloist. She toured successfully in the Smetana Hall Prague, Broward Centre Miami und Palazzo Liberté in Milano. Already at the age of 12 Elisso performed the Jean Sibelius’ concerto at the Musikverein Klagenfurt/Austria. She appears regularly in the Centre of Arts Toronto, Glenn Gould Studios, Tübingen University Hall, Bayreuther Festspiele and at Alba Music Festival. Elisso already played among prestigious orchestras like Munich Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonics, Orchestra da Camera die Mantova, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra and Israel Symphony Orchestra.

2019 she was awarded next to Aaron Pilsan with the cultural award of the country Vorarlberg. Further she received the Richard Wagner scholarship of Bayreuth and was chosen as the only string player to play a concert at the Wagner Festspiele 2021 in Bayreuth. Elisso is a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in Liechtenstein and holder of the “German scholarship". Since 2023 she is supported by the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now foundation e.V.

For the season 2022/23 she will appear at San Remo Festival, Langenargen Schlosskonzerte, Holland Masters on Tour and Violinfestival of Young Artists amongst others. Additional to her South America debut in Brazil with the Violin Concerto No. 1 by D.Shostakovich, she will be playing the Violin Concerto by Otar Taktakishvili as part of the 100th birthday celebration of the Georgian Composer in Europa and America.

Since 2008 Elisso studied in the class of Prof. Josef Rissin at the University of Music in Karlsruhe, Germany first as a PreCollege student and then as a Bachelor student. Since October 2021 she studies with Prof. Krzysztof Wegrzyn at the University of Music and Theatre Hannover. Masterclasses with Ingolf Turban, Tianwa Yang, Nemanja Radulovic and Ana Chumachenco completed her musical education.

As a passionate chamber musician Elisso played concerts with great artists like Maria Meerovitch, Regina Chernychko, Kristóf Baráti, Benjamin Beck, Aaron Pilsan, Stanislas Kim and the pianist legend Bruno Canino. With her "Trio Poème" she will be touring in whole Germany and playing concerts as part of the "Konzertförderung des Deutschen Musikrats".

Wherever she plays, the reviews are full of praise: "cheerful-charming stage presence in addition to masterly technique and mature, immaculate and differentiated beauty of sound." Another criticism from the "cultural magazine": "Remarkable was the modesty of the musician, for all virtuosity She internalised the music, was totally with herself and plays with an expressiveness that is not interested in superficial, technical effects. "

Elisso Gogibedaschwili plays a violin by Andrea Guarneri from the end of the 17th century which is generously loaned by the Otten family.