The Endler Concert Prestige Series presents the internationally acclaimed violinist, Alissa Margulis, who will perform with much loved pianist, Luis Magalhães at 8pm on Saturday 8 September in the Endler Hall, Stellenbosch.

Both artists need little introduction to Stellenbosch audiences as they have so often dazzled with their performances at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. Margulis is praised for her expressive and very emotional performances that have earned her recognition as one of today’s most distinguished artists. Magalhães has developed an international career as a solo recitalist, concert pianist, teacher and chamber musician.

The programme for this concert includes: Dvorak’s Four Romantic Pieces; Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata; Ysaÿe’s Poeme Elegiaque and Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 2 in D major.

Dvorak, perhaps best known for his symphonies and cello concerto, also wrote sublime chamber music, much of which – his Four Romantic Pieces an excellent example – elevates simple Czech folk melody to the level of “Art Music”. The popularity of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata must surely be attributed to the juxtaposition of the tempestuous Beethoven at his best with some achingly beautiful themes. It is fitting that Margulis, who teaches at the Antwerp Conservatoire, has chosen to play Ysaÿe, arguably Belgium’s most famous violinist composer of all time. Finally, from Margulis’s native Russia, Prokofiev’s second violin sonata sees Prokofiev in somewhat more optimistic mood than in many of his other compositions.