Laidlaw Live: Duo Auxesis

Описание: Xenia Gogu (violin)
Victor García García (cello)

Anton Kraft and Bernhard Romberg:
master cellists of the mid-18th century


Programme:

Duo on a theme by Mozart, Bei Männern, welche liebe fühlen
Bernhard Romberg (1767-1841)

Duo Concertante, op. 2, no. 3
Andreas Romberg (1767-1821)/Bernhard Romberg

I. Allegro
II. Andantino con Variazioni

Duo Concertante in D minor, op. 3, no. 1 Anton Kraft (1749-1820)

I. Adagio Maestoso - Allegro ma non tanto
II. Adagio cantabile - Allegro risoluto
III. Finale; Allegretto

Duo on a theme by Mozart, Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen
Bernhard Romberg

The Moldovan-born violinist Xenia Gogu and the Spanish cellist Victor García García form Duo Auxesis, focusing on the historically informed interpretation of the violin and cello praxis, ranging from chordal bass on the cello in baroque repertoire to rarely performed virtuosic repertoire of the early 19th century. Their goal is also to include newly commissioned music as a way of seeking relationships between the old and the new.



The duo has recently been awarded First Prize, Audience Prize and “Music and Space” Prize at the Göttingen Händel Competition. They also appeared as part of the concert season at the Espacio Turina in Sevilla and the Festival Fel!x at the Kölner Philharmonie. In addition, they have performed at festivals such as the Paessaggi Musicali Toscani and the Musethica Festival. Victor and Xenia are alumni of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras Apprentice Programme and the Academy of Collegium Vocale Gent. They also act as artistic directors of the Festival Impulso in La Palma, Spain.
Victor García García is a Spanish cellist who specialises in historically informed performance. He enjoys a varied and international musical career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Alongside his activities as a performer, his research interests led him to pursue a doctoral degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, focusing on the performance practice of cellists who lived around Beethoven. From September 2023, he will teach historical cello at the Utrecht Conservatorium.

Victor won the Second Prize at the 2013 Witold Lutoslawski Cello Competition in Warsaw. As a member of the Ensemble Ayres Extemporae, in which he plays the violoncello piccolo, he won Second Prize at the 2022 Biagio Marini Competition in Neuburg and the First Prize and Audience Prize at the emerging ensembles platform of the Semana de Música Antigua de Estella. Victor was also Artist in Residence at the Schloss Weissenbrunn Music Academy during 2022. In 2021, he received the AAOBS-Femás scholarship of the Baroque Orchestra of Seville and the Prize “Andalusian of the Future” in the cultural category.

Víctor obtained his Bachelor’s degree, as well as a Master’s degree in Performance, at the University of Arts in Berlin, in the class of Prof. Jens Peter Maintz. Thereafter, he continued his education with David Watkin at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Historically Informed Performance Practice. He performs regularly with ensembles such as the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, the Utopia Orchestra and the Millenium Orchestra.

As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras such as the Baroque Orchestra of Seville, Ensemble Esperanza, Orchester am Treppenhaus Hannover, Malaga Philharmonie and the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla. He has taken part in chamber music festivals such as the


Paessaggi Musicali Toscani, Yellow Barn Festival, Musethica Festival, Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar and East Neuk Retreat.

Moldovan-Spanish violinist Xenia Gogu specialises in historically informed performance, combining solo, chamber music and orchestral projects as part of her artistic life. She is currently living in the Netherlands, where she is a member of the Noord Nederlands Orkest. She has performed at festivals such as Laus Polyphonae in Antwerp, Semana de la Música Antigua de Estella-Lizarra and the Festival FestiVita in Brussels.

Xenia is currently engaged in a Master’s degree in Early Music in Bremen as a pupil of Veronika Skuplic. She previously obtained her Bachelor’s degree at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin before completing her Master’s degree in Hamburg. She appears regularly with orchestras such as Millenium Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.