Romeo & Juliet

The evening opens with Clara Schumann’s Drei Romanzen, three exquisitely intimate character pieces that glow with lyrical warmth and poetic restraint—music that feels like pages from a private diary set to sound. From this inward world we plunge into the electrifying drama of Bizet/Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy, a virtuosic whirlwind where familiar themes from Carmen ignite into dazzling fireworks, full of swagger, seduction, and daredevil brilliance. The program culminates with Cezar Franck’s monumental Sonata for Violin and Piano, heard here in a rich and expressive arrangement by violist Dana Zemtsov. Its sweeping arcs, radiant cyclic design, and soaring emotional span form a grand, glowing finale—music that embraces both intimacy and transcendence.