Michael Zaretsky, guest violist

Name: Michael Zaretsky, guest violist
Start: 2025-04-21T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Barnes Hall

Schedule

Mon, 21 Apr, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Barnes Hall | Ithaca, NY

Pianists Xak Bjerken and Miri Yampolsky welcome guest violist Michael Zaretsky of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The program features two great Russian viola sonatas from the mid-late 20th century. Shostakovich wrote his final work in 1975, the viola sonata, a profound reflection on mortality that quotes works of Beethoven. Zaretsky gave the first performance of this work in the US and has a special connection, having played it for almost 50 years. Mieczslaw Weinberg was a composer that became very close to Shostakovich, whom Shostakovich supported and protected. His Sonata Op. 28 was written in 1945 and mixes lyricism with a personal reflection on the events of WWII.