Frequent recital partners cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan join forces for a skillful and impassioned performance. Weilerstein, a MacArthur Fellow, is highly regarded for her intensity, sensitivity and immersion in every work she interprets. Award-winning Barnatan is known for his superior musicianship and charismatic artistry. Both showcase their incomparable technique and expressiveness in a captivating performance of Suite Populaire Espagnole by Manuel de Falla, and Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19, by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

About the Artists

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Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. Since making her professional and Carnegie Hall debuts in her early teens, she has been in high demand as a solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist with leading orchestras worldwide. She was recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship in 2011. An authority on Bach's music for unaccompanied cello, Weilerstein recently released a best-selling recording of his solo suites on the Pentatone label, streamed them in her innovative #36DaysOfBach project, and deconstructed his beloved G-major prelude in a Vox.com video, viewed almost 1.5million times. Her discography also includes chart-topping albums and the winner of BBC Music's "Recording of the Year" award. As Artistic Partner of the Trondheim Soloists, she regularly tours and records with the Norwegian orchestra. She is an ardent champion of contemporary music, and has premiered and championed important new works by composers including Pascal Dusapin, Osvaldo Golijov and Matthias Pintscher. Other career milestones include a performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at nine years old, Weilerstein is a staunch advocate for the T1D community. She lives with her husband, Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare, and their young child.Funded in part by the Aires Family Fund for the Performing Arts, Frank L. Harrington 1924 Fund No. 3, the John M. Tiedtke 1930 Visiting Performing Artists Fund, the Patricia S. and Robert A. Levinson 1946 Fund, and the Robert S. Weil 1940 Fund

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Inon Barnatan, "one of the most admired pianists of his generation" (New York Times), is celebrated for his poetic sensibility, musical intelligence and consummate artistry. He inaugurated his tenure as Music Director of California's La Jolla Music Society Summerfest in 2019. Barnatan is a regular soloist with many of the world's foremost orchestras and conductors. He recently served for three seasons as the inaugural Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic and recreated Beethoven's legendary 1808 concert with the Cincinnati Symphony. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, Barnatan is also a sought-after recitalist and chamber musician. He recently made his solo recital debut at Carnegie's Zankel Hall and reunited with frequent cello partner Alisa Weilerstein. Passionate about contemporary music, he has commissioned and performed works by many living composers, premiering pieces by Thomas Adès, Sebastian Currier, Avner Dorman, Alan Fletcher, Joseph Hallman, Alasdair Nicolson, Andrew Norman and Matthias Pintscher. Recently he released Beethoven's complete piano concertos, recorded with Alan Gilbert and Academy of St Martin in the Fields on Pentatone. Barnatan's acclaimed discography also includes; Rachmaninov & Chopin: Cello Sonatas, recorded with Weilerstein for Decca Classics, and Darknesse Visible, named one of the New York Times's "Best of 2012."

Photo: courtesy of the artist

This recording was produced by Celebrity Series of Boston and made at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, La Jolla, CA.
 
This program is funded by the Aires Family Fund for the Performing Arts, Patricia S. and Robert A. Levinson 1946 Fund in Support of the Hopkins Center's Visiting Performing Artists Program, John M. Tiedtke 1930 Visiting Performing Artists Fund, Frank L. Harrington 1924 Fund No. 3, Robert S. Weil 1940 Fund in Support of the Hopkins Center's Visiting Performing Artists Program.