Violinist Kopatchinskaja and cellist Gabetta to debut in Hong Kong in November
Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabetta will perform together for the first time in Hong Kong on 2 November at City Hall. The programme includes 20th-century duets, Baroque pieces and contemporary works. Tickets are on sale via Urbtix.
Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabetta will make their Hong Kong debut together on 2 November at the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, according to the Hong Kong government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD).
The programme includes two 20th-century duet masterpieces – Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello and Kodály's Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7. It also features selected Baroque short pieces such as Leclair's Tambourin in C major and Bach's Prelude in G major, BWV 860. Contemporary works by Widmann, Xenakis, Ligeti and Cole are included, along with excerpts from Kopatchinskaja's own Caprice, offering a dialogue spanning classical tradition and contemporary innovation.
Gabetta has been appointed as the focus artist of the Zurich Concert Hall Orchestra for the 2025/26 season. She has received numerous honours, including the European Culture Award and the Karajan Music Prize. Kopatchinskaja is one of the London Symphony Orchestra's 'Artist Portraits' for the 2025/26 season. Her album Joy of Light, recorded with Gabetta and the Bern Chamber Orchestra, won the BBC Music Magazine Award.
The concert will begin at 8pm on 2 November. Tickets, priced at HK$280, HK$420, HK$550 and HK$680, are available via Urbtix (www.urbtix.hk) or phone at 3166 1288. A package discount is available for those purchasing tickets for multiple 'Music盛会 2026' programmes.
A pre-concert talk, titled 'BFF String Talk' (conducted in Cantonese), will be held at 6:45pm on 2 November in the North Conference Room on the 7th floor of the Hong Kong City Hall High Block. The speaker is cellist Poon Ying-chi. Admission is free but seats are limited.
The concert is part of the fourth 'Asia Arts Beyond Borders' festival, which runs from June to December as part of the LCSD's 'Music盛会 2026' series, featuring internationally acclaimed orchestras and musicians.