Yuja Wang and Leonidas Kavakos to share La Jolla Music Society concert stage

She is known for her dazzling style in her art, performance and fashion. He was described as insightful and introspective.

Both are superstar soloists who will bring their extraordinary talents together for a La Jolla Music Society concert at the Balboa Theater on Wednesday.

Pianist Yuja Wang and violinist Leonidas Kavakos may seem seemingly mismatched, but the two have a long-standing partnership and alchemy on stage that has resulted in several tours and recordings.

Wang, 34, from Beijing, started playing the piano at the age of 6. Her mother was a dancer and her father was a percussionist. She entered a conservatory in Calgary, Canada, at age 14, then continued her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 2007, Wang landed in international spotlight when she replaced piano legend Martha Argerich as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Now one of the hottest tickets in classical music, Wang is instantly recognized for the powerful beauty of her performances as well as her fashion sense, wearing jaw-dropping bodycon mini dresses and dizzying stiletto heels as the you don’t see it often in the classical music world. In 2017, she told The Guardian newspaper: “… if the music is beautiful and sultry, why not dress to fit? It is a matter of power and persuasion.

Like Wang, Kavakos, who was born in Athens, Greece, grew up in a musical household. His grandfather played the violin and the lute in a folk music group. Her father started in folk music and became a classical violinist, and her mother was a pianist. By the age of 21, Kavakos had won major violin competitions thanks to his technical mastery of the instrument and his moving performances.

The 54-year-old, who plays a 1724 Stradivarius, has also made a name for himself as a conductor, conducting orchestras around the world including the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.

On Wednesday, the duo will perform Bach’s Sonata No. 3 in E major and Sonata No. 1 in B minor, as well as the Sonata for violin and piano op. 134 by Shostakovich and Sonata No. 2 in E minor for violin and piano, op. 36A from Busoni.

Bach’s pieces are part of a series of six sonatas he composed for violin and keyboard, which in the 18th century meant harpsichord, while he was writing secular music for Cöthen’s Prinz Leopold.

Shostakovich’s work was written in 1968 for the 60th birthday of Soviet violinist David Oistrakh and represents Shostakovich’s last period, which is often intense and dark. Bosoni’s Second Violin Sonata, from 1898, is one of the few chamber music pieces the composer has written and is dedicated to one of his closest friends.

This is the second time that Wang and Kavakos will perform in a concert for the La Jolla Music Society at the Balboa Theater. Their previous performance was in February 2017.

“Seeing these two remarkable musicians share the stage will be absolutely thrilling for our audience,” said Leah Rosenthal, Artistic Director of La Jolla Music Society. “Even with their own prolific solo careers, Yuja Wang and Leonidas Kavakos remain fully engaged in their artistic partnership, and we look forward to welcoming them back to LJMS in this exciting new program.”

La Jolla Music Society presents Leonidas Kavakos and Yuja Wang

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Or: Balboa Theater, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown

Tickets: $ 43 to $ 90

Telephone: (858) 459-3728

In line: ljms.org

Schimitschek is a freelance writer