January 19, 21, Friday 4pm, Sunday 5pm
St. Paul's Church, Cardo 6
$400, $300, $150

Dmitry & Yulia Kouzov, Pro Musica - concert

Get ready for two concerts with internationally acclaimed cello star, Dmitry Kousov and acclaimed piano maestra, Yulia Feedoseeva! Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century praised Kousov's playing, calling Dmitry “a true artist.” Immensely talented and versatile, the Washington post raved that he was “excellent.” Don’t miss this uniquely talented musician in concert on Friday, January 19 at 5 pm and Sunday, January 21 at 4 pm at St. Paul’s Church on Calle Cardo.

A much-in-demand performer, Dmitry has played on five continents with orchestras, in solo and duo recitals, and in chamber music performances, appearing with the St. Petersburg Symphony, among others. Two-time laureate of the International “Virtuosi of the Year”, he was named a New York Cello Society Rising Star and won first place at the International Beethoven Competition. Yulia, also Dmitry’s wife, has performed throughout Russia, Holland, Portugal, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On Friday, the program includes Beethoven’s Sonata No. 4, Bach’s Suite No.3, Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, and Prokiev’s Sonata in C Major. Beethoven wrote this Sonata while a guest of the lovely Countess Erdödy. A close confidante, she remains a likely candidate for the mysteriously unnamed, "Eternally Beloved". Technically daunting, Bach’s suites established the still followed precedent for this cello canon of music. In 1842, Schumann's marriage inspired a great number of master works, including the piece we will hear, the Adagio and Allegro. Prokiev’s Sonata, clearly anti-establishment, was premiered in Russia in 1950, surprisingly since The Soviet Committee of Artistic Affairs was headed by Andrey Zhdanov, director of the Great Terror and heir to Stalin. Nevertheless, though politically controversial, Prokiev was a popular composer, and works such as Peter and the Wolf and Romeo and Juliet were hugely popular.

On Sunday, concertgoers will hear Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3, Bach’s Sonata No. 3, Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano and Tchaikovsky’s Pezzo Capriccioso. Beethoven’s Sonata was written shortly after the death of his wife, composed “among tears and sorrow”. Bach wrote three Sonatas for viola da gamba, a predecessor of the cello, and keyboard, and we will hear the rarely performed No.3. Shostakovich's Sonata was written while under personal and political duress; some speculate that he used the creative process to deal with these issues, as he quickly completed it and moved on to a more serene phase of his life. The Pezzo is Tchaikovsky's second cello and, originally orchestra, work, composed during the painful death of a good friend, but it is still very warm and fervent.

Tickets for the concerts at St. Paul’s are $150, $300 and $400 pesos donation each, and are on sale at La Tienda in the Biblioteca Pública; through our website with no booking fee, and at the concert 45 minutes before performance time.

Details of all Pro Musica’s concerts and Patron Membership are on our web site, www.promusicasma.org, or contact us at promusicasma@aol.com.

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