Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Towering works in the repertoire, Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin conjure vast sonic landscapes with just four gut strings and a horsehair bow. Considered both an invitation and a challenge to violinists since they were first published more than 220 years ago, these touchstones of European music come with a title—“Sei Solo”—that in Italian both describes the work itself (“Six Solos”) and acts as a sobering reminder to the player (“You are alone”). In this rare and powerful musical experience, Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos performs the complete set over two nights. “Kavakos’s sound is intense, silken, mercurial—a modern, characterful performance aware of history, playful in its ornamentation, but without exaggeration” (The Guardian).