Both Dmitry Ferschtman and Pieter Wispelwey appeared at the very first Cello Biënnale. Dmitry Ferschtman impressed in 2006 with his own arrangement of the Romances by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Now he can pour his Russian soul into these sentimental songs once again. Benjamin Britten’s three suites for cello solo, composed for Mstistlav Rostropovich, were performed in their entirety in 2006 by Pieter Wispelwey. The third suite, which has four Russian themes, ends with an obsessive Passacaglia in which all the themes can be heard one last time.

The concert opens with a Dutch piece of music: the cello sonata by Escher, one of the most engaging pieces for cello solo of the twentieth Century. And by the way, cellist Örs Köszeghy is no stranger to true Biënnale fans either: he performed at several Biënnales and developed the ingenious AirCello concept in 2010.