Early works with Baiba and Harriet

This Friday Series concert in Norðurljós Hall features early works for string octet by two vastly different composers who were both considered child prodigies: Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. The programme also gives listeners the chance to hear violinist Baiba Skride and cellist Harriet Krijgh play chamber music – which they do masterfully – after their performance the night before of Sofia Gubaidulina's triple concerto under the baton of Olari Elts. Mendelssohn's String Octet, which he wrote at age sixteen as a birthday gift for his violin teacher, displays rare imagination, vigour, and refinement. Shostakovich was also in his teens when he wrote his Two Pieces for string octet, op. 11, and these, too, bear eloquent witness to their creator's talents, featuring the edgy dissonances, rhythmic tension, and soaring lyricism that can also be heard in his later works.