PROKOF’EV: Five Songs without Words, op. 35 bis
ŠOSTAKOVIČ: Sonata in G major, op. 134
SCHÖNBERG: Fantasy, op. 47
BUSONI: Second Sonata in E minor, op. 36a, KV 244

Isabelle Faust captivates audiences with her compelling interpretations, approaching each piece with the utmost respect and sensitivity for the historical musical context and historically informed instruments. Combining this great authenticity with a contemporary perspective, she continuously creates meaningful “musical dialogues” with a wide variety of works and diverse audiences.

Having won, at a young age, the renowned Leopold Mozart Competition and the Paganini Competition, she soon began performing with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Les Siècles, and the Freiburger Barockorchester. This led to close and ongoing collaborations with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Giovanni Antonini, François-Xavier Roth, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Jakub Hrusa, Klaus Mäkelä, Robin Ticciati, and Sir Simon Rattle.

Faust’s broad artistic curiosity spans all periods and forms of instrumental collaboration. In addition to major symphonic concerts for violin, her performances include, for example, Schubert’s Octet with period instruments, as well as Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat with Dominique Horwitz, and György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments with Anna Prohaska. Isabelle Faust is also highly engaged with contemporary music: recent world premieres include works by Péter Eötvös, Brett Dean, Ondřej Adámek, and Rune Glerup.

The 2024/25 season saw Faust performing with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Isabelle Faust toured with Il Giardino Armonico in Europe and Japan and was Artist in Residence at the Beethovenfest Bonn in 2024.

She performs in chamber music with Alexander Melnikov and in a trio with Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras. She interprets historically the Schubert String Quintet and the G major Quartet with Antoine Tamestit, Anne Katharina Schreiber, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and Christian Poltéra.

Many of her recordings have been unanimously praised by critics and awarded Diapason d’or, Grammophone Award, Choc de l’année, among others. Her most recent recordings include Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto (with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), violin and orchestra works by Pietro Locatelli (with Il Giardino Armonico), and solo violin works by Biber, Matteis, Pisendel, Vilsmayr, and Guillemain. Among her other prestigious recordings are Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin and the Violin Concertos of Beethoven and Berg under the direction of Claudio Abbado.

Alexander Melnikov graduated from the Moscow Conservatory under the guidance of Lev Naumov. A particularly formative moment in his musical development was his early encounter with Svjatoslav Richter, who later regularly invited him to perform at various festivals in Russia and France. Melnikov has won numerous awards in prestigious competitions, including the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau (1989) and the Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth in Brussels (1991).

Particularly renowned for his repertoire choices, often unusual, he has cultivated a strong interest from the start of his career in historically informed performance practice. He has been influenced by the work of Andreas Staier and Alexei Lubimov. He regularly performs with prestigious early music ensembles, such as the Freiburger Barockorchester, MusicAeterna, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

As a soloist, Alexander Melnikov has performed with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, HR-Sinfonieorchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, under conductors such as Mikhail Pletnev, Teodor Currentzis, Charles Dutoit, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Dausgaard, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Vladimir Jurowski.

Together with Andreas Staier, he has recorded a program entirely devoted to Schubert’s works for four hands, also presented in concert. A key part of Alexander Melnikov’s activity is his intense dedication to chamber music, collaborating with partners such as Jean-Guihen Queyras.

His collaboration with the Harmonia Mundi label also flourished through his regular recital partner, violinist Isabelle Faust, culminating in the 2010 Gramophone Award for the recording of Beethoven’s Sonatas for violin and piano. This album became a benchmark for recordings of these works and was also nominated for the Grammy Awards. Their more recent duo recordings include the Violin and Piano Sonatas by Brahms and Mozart.

In the 2024-25 season, Alexander Melnikov was Artist-in-Residence at the Konzerthaus Vienna, with a solo program, a chamber music concert, and a concert with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach. His concert tours took him to Japan, America, and Europe, performing with the Munich Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Gürzenich Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Basel Chamber Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra under the guidance of Ivor Bolton, Maxim Emelyanychev, Hannu Lintu, Daniel Cohen, Anja Bihlmaier, and Giovanni Antonini.

Alexander Melnikov continues his chamber music work in a wide variety of ensembles with artists such as Isabelle Faust, Antoine Tamestit, Alexei Lubimov, Olga Pashchenko, Mikhail Shilyaev, and Jean-Guihen Queyras, performing in cities such as Helsinki, Copenhagen, Berlin, Lyon, Amsterdam, Bonn, Vancouver, Seattle, and London.

To complete the season, Alexander Melnikov performed solo recitals at the Philharmonie Berlin, Philharmonie Cologne, Auditorium Lyon, Prague, Madrid, Philia Hall Yokohama, and Toppan Hall Tokyo.