Visiting string players from Finland in music for duo, trio and quartet.
Monday at Last is the concert series where Cecilia Zilliacus and Kati Raitinen invite guest artists to join them in exploring both new and older music. This time, the series welcomes violinist Minna Pensola – known for her musicality, energy, and her all-in performance style – and the versatile Antti Tikkanen, heard here on both violin and viola. Together, they form the duo Tiksola.
In this concert, they showcase their phenomenal ensemble playing in a programme with a Finnish flavour. We’ll hear lively polskas from Ostrobothnia and an intriguing duo by fellow Finn Lotta Wennäkoski. In the company of violinist Cecilia Zilliacus, they also perform trios by Juha T. Koskinen. And when joined by both Zilliacus and Kati Raitinen, Duo Tiksola expands into a quartet to perform Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen’s Third String Quartet.
This rich and varied programme also includes a romantic sonata by Polish-born Russian composer Mieczysław Weinberg, along with delicate songs arranged for two violins by Minna Pensola. We’ll also hear Georg Philipp Telemann’s charming Gulliver Suite, inspired by Jonathan Swift’s contemporary novel Gulliver’s Travels. The concert concludes with Duo Tiksola’s own version of Paganini’s famous 24 Caprices.