GIOACCHINO ROSSINI (1792-1868)
Sonata for strings (1804, '11)
Program notes Video

SERGEY PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Visions Fugitives, Op. 22 (1915-1917)
Program notes Video

PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1993)
Serenade for strings, Op. 48 (1880, '26)
Program notes Video II III IV

Rossini's early opus (he was 12 when he composed six string sonatas in four days!) distinctly shows the promise so wonderfully fulfilled in his operas, and well connects to Prokofiev's brief "glances", creating a cloudless, even playful first half of the concert. Tchaikovsky's passionate masterpiece is far greater in emotional range, substantially raising the temperature of the program.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for strings can be substituted by his Souvenir de Florence, op. 70, equally passionate and yet more driven work.