Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabeta perform together at the 2018 Lucerne Fesival
It’s the morning after the night before, and a hushed conversation is taking place in the far corner of a breakfast lounge in a hotel around the corner from Cologne’s famous cathedral. I’m in the company of Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta and Moldovan-born violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Other than the occasional tinkling of spoons against teacups, the room is quiet. Very quiet. We exchange sentences in fake whispers. I feel as if I’m privy to some kind of strange conspiratorial plot to take over the classical music world…
It’s all a far cry from the ending of Dutch composer Michel van der Aa’s double concerto Akin (2018–19), which received its premiere the night before (9 May) at Cologne’s Philharmonie. Sitting at the table with Gabetta and Kopatchinskaja – the two soloists for whom it was written – I can’t get the image of that ending out of my mind.