Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert - Fiddlefest 2 ... with strings attached ... - Episode 1

Sean Rafferty introduces music from Fiddlefest 2 - an event celebrating music for the violin which takes place bi-annually in the city of Londonderry in Northern Ireland. The 2009 festival presents repertoire for violin and piano as well as music for string quartet and string octet. The venue is Christ Church, a free church which was consecrated in 1833 and built at the expense of Bishop Knox, who built the Church for the poor people who lived in the area. Young violinist Alexandra Soumm, who was born in Russia but now divides her time between France and Austria, is joined by her regular recital partner Julien Quentin for a performance of Grieg's Violin Sonata No 3 in C minor. Grieg characterised all his violin sonatas: No 2 was 'the nationalistic' and No 3 'the one with the wider horizons'. Young British quartet and winners of the first prize and audience prize at the fifth Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2007, the Badke Quartet perform a quartet by Mendelssohn which was composed in 1827 while the composer was still a teenager and is based on a short song he had composed the previous year. Grieg: Sonata No 3 in C minor for violin and piano, Op 45 Alexandra Soumm (violin) Julien Quentin (piano) Mendelssohn: String Quartet No 2 in A minor, Op 13 Badke Quartet: Heather Badke, Emma Parker (violins) Jon Thorne (viola) Jonathan Byers (cello).