87. Finale

The Finale opens with the unusual pairing of violin and viola that Mozart wrote to help out a fellow composer who was about to miss a commission deadline. Think of it as a Sinfonia Concertante without the orchestra. Next up is Beethoven’s last and greatest violin sonata with its gentle air of tranquil beauty, the complete opposite of its flamboyant predecessor, the Kreutzer. There follows a romantic interlude between the Intervals, with Rachmaninov’s overwhelming Cello Sonata. As is our custom the Festival closes with one of the great string sextets after the stage is cleared with the Steinway concert grand’s dramatic exit down the Bantry House garden steps.