The charm of Pergolesi‘s melodies and the piquant flavor of Stravinsky‘s rewriting makes his Suite italienne one of his most enjoyable works and certainly the most popular of his works for violin and piano.
– All Music Guide

Igor Stravinsky called his discovery, and subsequent reworking, of melodies by the 18th-century composer Giovanni Pergolesi “the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible.” Certainly he took his newfound style and ran with it, turning the resultant ballet Pulcinella into a purely orchestral piece, as well as suites for both cello and piano, and violin and piano…suites called “charming and witty to their core.

Heifetz 2019 student Julian Rhee charmed a Francis Auditorium audience with this rendition of Stravinsky’s suite, aided and abetted by faculty pianist Miki Aoki. Be prepared to smile, and catch Julian in performance with fellow alums Yebin Yoo, Noémie Raymond-Friset, Jingxuan Zhang, pianist Dina Vainshtein and our Artistic Director Nicholas Kitchen in our Heifetz “Fall Colors” tour this month in Northern New England!