Полина Осетинская

" It is strange to reason - "appropriate" or "inappropriate". Music is not to blame for anything at all. Especially music written 100 years ago and in quite similar historical moments. Shostakovich, for example, waited for his arrest and sat at night, for several months, with a packed suitcase by the elevator, so that when they came for him, his family would not be woken up. This is the reality that many people live in now. Or Rachmaninoff, who was forced to leave Russia because of the revolution. But at the same time, the function of music as a great comforter remains. What else can people need in a state of such turmoil, confusion and enormous stress that they have been living in lately?"

The powerhouse duo of violinist Maxim Vengerov and pianist Polina Osetinskaya checked their most formidable chops at the door in Carnegie Hall Sunday afternoon, inviting listeners instead to an intimate celebration of love and friendship.

The elated audience didn’t want it to end, and Vengerov and Osetinskaya were happy to feed the enthusiasm with three encores; Rachmaninov’s "Vocalise", Prokofiev’s March from The Love for Three Oranges, and more Rachmaninoff in his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 18th variation. It was a stylishly compelling end to an evening whose deceptively conventional façade concealed a thrilling range of emotions.

After an evening full, the soloists have granted a three-bis anything but routine, again drawing inspiration from the repertoire of Prokofiev and evoking another great Russian Sergei Rachmaninoff.