Lviv to hear Stradivari violin

A concert of the world-famous violinist Valery Sokolov (Austria-Ukraine), violinist Maria Tkachyk (Ukraine), and the INSO-Lviv symphony orchestra is to be held on June 12 at the Lviv Philharmonic Society. The orchestra will be conducted by Viktor Ploskin, a former Lviv resident, now the chief conductor of the National Opera and Ballet Theater of the Republic of Belarus. The violin Sokolov is going to play is dated 1703 and belongs to Antonio Stradivari’s “golden period.”

The program includes Yevhen Stankovych’s Concerto No.3 for Violin and Symphony Orchestra. This will be the Lviv premiere of the opus the composer wrote in 2015 and dedicated to the violin virtuoso himself. It is an artistic response to the events of today – the Maidan and the war.

The audience will also hear Concerto for Two Violins by Arnold Malcolm, one of the last century’s best-known British composers, dedicated to the outstanding violinist Yehudi Menuhin and his pupil Alberto (Ivan) Lysy. Now, 54 years after the premiere, the opus will be performed in Lviv for the first time. Virtuosos organizers point out that this show will combine “Valery Sokolov’s flawless emotional restraint and Maria Tkachyk’s charm and finesse.” Also on the program is the ballad Grazyna for symphony orchestra by Borys Liatoshynsky and the symphonic poem Mazepa by Franz Liszt.

Thanks to a flawless playing technique, emotional and artistic maturity in performing the most sophisticated violin compositions, Valery Sokolov, 30, is one of the world’s most popular young violinists.