In April 2019, Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica are going to give concerts in Belgrade, Zagreb and Novi Sad with a new program “The Last Words” based on the music of Joseph Haydn and Dmitri Shostakovitch.

In this program, Haydn’s Quartet “Seven Last Words of Christ” and Shostakovitch’s Quartet No. 15 will be performed in the transcription for string orchestra by Gidon Kremer and Victor Kissine. Both works will be performed in the original order, but within each other.

Haydn’s Quartet, op. 51 is a set of meditations on the seven expressions biblically attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. The last quartet written by Shostakovitch, No. 15 – arguably the most intimate work of the composer – is interwoven with Haydn’s composition in this project and is creating a bridge between centuries, connected by the reflection on the same subject – death. Gidon Kremer says: “In this particular project, I am trying to make everyone feel the timelessness of great pieces of art, reminding all of us that life is short and we should be able not to waste a minute of it.”

After three concerts in the Balkans Gidon Kremer will travel with his orchestra to Cuenca, Spain to take part in a “Religious Music Week”. For the two concerts in Cuenca Gidon Kremer will be joined by the great soloists Tatjana Grindenko, Reinut Tepp, Andrei Pushkarev, Giedre Dirvanauskaite and young conductor Martynas Stakionis to perform the music of Part, Weinberg, Kancheli and Shostakovitch.

For more information about the concert times and places, please visit the Events page.