JOSHUA BELL / STEVEN ISSERLIS / MAO FUJITA...
2026 marks the grand return of Joshua Bell to the Festival, with several concerts including this Rencontre Inédite alongside, among others, pianist Mao Fujita and cellist Steven Isserlis. On the program: Schubert’s tragic and moving Trio No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 100, and Fauré’s final masterpiece, composed just weeks before his death.
Programme
GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845-1924)
String Quartet in E minor Op. 121
(Bell, Duval, Teh Engstroem, Isserlis)
Interval
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Piano Trio in E-flat major D. 929
(Fujita, Bell, Isserlis)
Artist(s)
- Joshua Bell violin
- Irène Duval violin
- Blythe Teh Engstroem viola
- Steven Isserlis cello
- Mao Fujita piano
Schubert, String Quintet in C major D. 956 (Jansen, Duval, Teh Engstroem, Isserlis, Blendulf)
Like Beethoven, Fauré ended his life deaf. A heartbreaking witness to the progression of the disease, the range of each of his compositions shrank to a bare minimum, corresponding to the frequencies that the master could still hear. The composer’s last opus, Fauré’s Quartet evolves in a rare abstraction, anticipating the artistic revolutions of the entire twentieth century.
Another unfathomable masterpiece by a composer on the brink of death, the Trio Op.100 has gone down in history thanks to its slow movement, probably inspired by a traditional Swedish song, whose accompaniment evokes the icy climate of Winter’s Journey. Schubert, in a spirit that has carried him since the death of Beethoven, wrote one of his most unforgettable scores, with artistic genius abounding with a naturalness and consistency that music history has rarely known. The inner turmoil of Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell and Mao Fujita is one that should take this legendary work to new heights.
