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Belgian piano and violin virtuosos to perform

COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO

The final concert of the Shelter Island Friends of Music 2018 Season of Virtuosos will be held in the Presbyterian Church at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 7.

The acclaimed Belgian piano/violin duo of Kende & De Maeyer will close the season with a performance of music by Stravinsky, Faure and Beethoven; and with a contemporary piece by Lena Auerbach, the young Russian-American composer whose striking works have been performed throughout Europe and America.

The familiar Stravinsky work, “Suite Italienne,” has been heard throughout the world as the music for the classic ballet “Pulcinella.”

The closing piece in the concert is the imposing sonata, the “Kreutzer,” by Beethoven. It was dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, considered the finest violinist of his day. But he was confounded by the technical difficulties of the sonata, and consequently never played it in public. So, The Kende and DeMaeyer duo have proposed a challenging afternoon for themselves and it will be an event not to be missed.

BY JOHN G. MILLER