All-Star Lineup Comes Together For Concert Honoring Andrei Sakharov on May 21

(NEW YORK, NY; May 8, 2023)—On Sunday, May 21 at 3:30 p.m., an extraordinary lineup of internationally renowned musicians will come together in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage to celebrate Andrei Sakharov—the late physicist, humanist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for championing universal human rights, disarmament, and peace—in whose name the European Union established the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The afternoon’s all-star roster of artists includes violinists Gidon Kremer and Maxim Vengerov; cellist Steven Isserlis; pianists Lera Auerbach, Evgeny Kissin, and Georgijs Osokins; and the Emerson String Quartet in its final Carnegie Hall appearance during the ensemble’s farewell season. This historic musical celebration takes place on what would have been Mr. Sakharov’s 102nd birthday after the originally planned centennial concert in 2021 was postponed due to the pandemic.

The tribute concert opens with violinist Gidon Kremer performing Igor Loboda’s Requiem for solo violin, a work written by the Georgian composer in response to the Crimea conflict in 2014. The program also includes Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Violin Sonata No. 6, Op. 136bis, featuring Mr. Kremer—an ardent champion of the Polish-born Russian composer—collaborating with pianist Georgijs Osokins. Weinberg, whose music is rarely performed, was a close friend of Shostakovich and is considered a major composer of Soviet Russia who suffered under the Stalin regime. The centerpiece of the concert will be the culminating work on the program—Dvorák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81—performed by Evgeny Kissin and the Emerson String Quartet. Brahms’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major, featuring Maxim Vengerov and Evgeny Kissin; Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G Major, Op. 32, No. 5, Étude-tableau in A Minor, Op. 39. No. 2, and Étude-tableau in C Major, performed by Lera Auerbach; and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 with Maxim Vengerov, Steven Isserlis, and Evgeny Kissin round out the performance.

About Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989)
As one of the most influential humanists and scientists of the twentieth century, Andrei Sakharov continues to be acclaimed throughout the world more than 100 years after his birth. Initially known as the father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, Sakharov captured the imagination of millions around the world when, in 1968, he wrote Progress, Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom, which became one of the world’s most published books. Realizing that he was instrumental in creating the most powerful weapon in history, Sakharov began studying the consequences of nuclear testing, writing about the impact of radiation on humans and nature. He urged governments to ban all but underground nuclear tests and became one of the initiators of the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water signed in Moscow (1963).

Awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975, the Nobel Committee called him “the conscience of humanity.” In 1988, the European Union created the highest tribute paid to human rights work, and each year it honors recipients with the Sakharov Freedom of Thought Prize. Since 2006, the American Physical Society biannually awards the Andrei Sakharov Prize to scientists for “outstanding leadership and achievements in upholding human rights.” Additionally, the Russian Academy of Sciences awards a gold Sakharov Medal for outstanding research in particle physics. Avenues and institutes in many countries are named after Andrei Sakharov and several cities are graced by statues of him.

Throughout his life, Sakharov continued his struggle for human rights, disarmament, and cooperation between nations. He gave interviews to foreign correspondents and published timely relevant articles including “The World in Fifty Years,” “My Country and the World,” and “Alarm and Hope.” In several 1979 interviews, he condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As a result, he was stripped of all state awards by administrative order and exiled to Gorky, a city that was closed to outsiders by the Soviets because of its strategic importance as a military industrial center. Released from his seven-year exile by President Gorbachev, Sakharov returned to Moscow in December 1986. He traveled abroad to continue his work for peace, meeting with renowned scientists, heads of states, and other dignitaries.


Program Information
Sunday, May 21 at 3:30 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

CONCERT IN HONOR OF ANDREI SAKHAROV
An All-Star Chamber Music Afternoon

Gidon Kremer, Violin
Maxim Vengerov, Violin
Steven Isserlis, Cello
Georgijs Osokins, Piano
Evgeny Kissin, Piano
Lera Auerbach, Piano
Emerson String Quartet
  Eugene Drucker, Violin
  Philip Setzer, Violin
  Lawrence Dutton, Viola
  Paul Watkins, Cello

IGOR LOBODA Requiem
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major
RACHMANINOFF Prelude in G Major, Op. 32, No. 5
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in A Minor, Op. 39. No. 2
RACHMANINOFF Étude-tableau in C Major
SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Trio No. 2
WEINBERG Violin Sonata No. 6, Op. 136bis
DVORÁK Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81

Photos at top of release: Gidon Kremer by Angie Kremer, Maxim Vengerov by Diago Mariotta Mendez, Steven Isserlis by Joanna Bergin, Georgjis Osokins by Wojtek Grzedzinski, Evgeny Kissin by Sasha Gusov, Lera Auerbach by Rafael DeStella, Emerson String Quartet by Jürgen Frank.