Renowned Violinist Gil Shaham Performs at InClassica

InClassica 2021 is the biggest and most ambitious ever music festival to take place in the Middle East, welcoming a staggering 37 world-renowned soloists, 7 celebrated orchestras and 12 leading conductors to Dubai for a 30-day celebration of sublime musicianship, world-class performance and international collaboration. InClassica is pleased to present the biggest names in classical music today, featuring performers from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, for an unrivalled programme of phenomenal concerts taking place at the Dubai Opera and Coca-Cola Arena. The festival features a range of music from distinguished historical European composers, as well as works from the event’s Composer-in-Residence, Alexey Shor. 

Last night at InClassica

Refined Violin Virtuoso
Dubai Opera

Johannes Brahms's Violin Concerto in D Major is Brahms's sole contribution to the genre. The internationally renowned violinist Gil Shaham was the soloist in Brahms's concerto as well as in Alexey Shor's Seascapes. The cycle for violin and orchestra allowed Shaham to present his virtuosity and refinement of sound, particularly in the second movement Lonely Sail. Conducted by Sergey Smbatyan, the Slovak State Philharmonic rendered both pieces together with Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Overture-Fantasy Romeo and Juliet that introduced the audience to the most important characters and situations of Shakespeare's play, with longing romanticism and beautiful melodies.

Gil Shaham (violin)
 - “What a thrill to be here. This is one of the highlights of my year. It’s so nice to make music with this wonderful orchestra and the great maestro Sergey Smbatyan. I’m very honoured to be part of this. The music I played tonight - Shor and Brahms - both are amazing pieces and I really enjoyed performing them in this hall. I am very happy that I was invited and thank you to the organisers because it went great”

Sergey Smbatyan
 - “Really happy about tonight’s performance. The orchestra and I are getting used to each other even more now of course since we’ve performed together for some time now and that always makes things smoother and more natural I think. We performed some wonderful music and Gil Shaham was truly exquisite, a real pleasure to work with. I hope the audience enjoyed it, but from the reaction they gave us I think it was a very well received concert”

Quotes From Those in Attendance: 

“Amazing evening. The venue, the orchestra, the soloist, they all worked together marvellously. It was wonderful” — audience member

“We really liked the programme they had for tonight. Three truly beautiful pieces of music, and it was good to hear a contemporary composer alongside the other works as well, it’s not always common and I liked that they did that here” — audience member

“This was my first time seeing Gil Shaham live. He’s just amazing, one of the best violinists in the world in my opinion. Was a real pleasure to hear him” — audience member 

Tonight at InClassica*

The Piano Masters’ Friendship and Love
Dubai Opera

German composer Johannes Brahms and Czech composer Antonín Dvořák developed a friendship that lasted more than two decades. Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 soon established itself as a recognized masterpiece of singular beauty. Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder, an artist who does not believe in compromises, is known for his technically flawless as well as unconventional interpretations and is a profound connoisseur of Brahms's music. Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 is recognized as an important contribution to the genre and loved by the audience as much as his other symphonies. The Slovak State Philharmonic plays the symphony under the baton of Daniel Raiskin.

• Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)
• Daniel Raiskin 
• Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

*Full details (including quotes from performers and attendees) will be available tomorrow. For any enquiries regarding tonight’s performance, please contact us.

Organised by the European Foundation for Support of Culture and SAMIT Event Group, the 2021 Edition of the InClassica International Music Festival is currently underway, with daily concerts taking place until the 26th of September. For more information or to book tickets, please visit the official website at inclassica.com.