Alena Baeva violin ; Joseph Havlat piano

Risk taking is part of creative life for both artists in this lunchtime recital. Alena Baeva’s expressive playing, hallmarked by tonal nuance and jaw-dropping virtuosity, is tailor-made for the intricacies of Bartók’s two-movement Violin Sonata No. 2 and the lyrical charm of Prokofiev’s Melodies, originally written for the Ukrainian soprano Nina Koshetz. Joseph Havlat, Professor of Contemporary Piano and Director of Piano Lab at the Royal Academy of Music, crowns the programme with his scintillating new takes on Szymanowski’s folksong arrangements from Poland’s Kurpie region and music from Germaine Tailleferre’s 1923 ballet, Le marchand d’oiseaux.