Symphoniker Hamburg / Maxim Vengerov / Akane Sakai / Martha Argerich

When different musical worlds collide, magic happens: »Japan Meets Beethoven IIStephen Kovacevich« invites you to an evening full of contrasts and emotions at the Martha Argerich Festival in the historic Laeiszhalle.
The program opens with the colorful Piano Concerto No. 4 »Akiko’s Piano« by Japanese composer Dai Fujikura—a modern soundscape, impressively interpreted by Akane Sakai together with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra under the baton of principal conductor Sylvain Cambreling.

With his piano concerto, written for Martha Argerich, Fujikura tells the moving story of 19-year-old Akiko, who lived in Hiroshima and died as a result of the atomic bombing. At the heart of the work is an extraordinary instrument: the very piano that survived the explosion and still bears traces of the destruction to this day. As a musical plea for peace, the concerto combines personal memory with universal humanity—and even features the sound of Akiko’s original piano at the end.

After the intermission, the focus shifts entirely to Ludwig van Beethoven: with electrifying intensity, Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov bring two of his contrasting violin sonatas to life—dramatic, passionate, and full of esprit.
A gripping evening spanning the present and the classical era, Far Eastern sound poetry «and European mastery.

PERFORMERS

Symphoniker Hamburg orchestra

Maxim Vengerov violin

Akane Sakai piano

Martha Argerich piano

Sylvain Cambreling conductor

PROGRAM

Dai Fujikura
Klavierkonzert Nr.4 »Akiko’s Piano«

- Interval -

Ludwig van Beethoven
Two sonatas for violin and piano