Three red threads run through the program, with which the Serbian cellist Petar Pejčić and the Moroccan pianist Nour Ayadi introduce the Zurich audience. Not only the legendary cellist Mstislaw Rostropowitsch, but also the other composers made a sensation as instrumental soloists. With Prokofiev, Rostropowitsch and Shostakovich, three Russian composers are represented. And then there are Nadia Boulanger and Ástor Piazzolla: The Frenchwoman was one of the most sought-after composition teachers of the 20th century, and Piazzolla was one of her students. He came as an Argentine bandoneon player from tango, but presented her classical compositions that she did not like. She then let him play a tango, encouraged him to stay authentic – and thus gave the decisive impulse for Piazzolla's development of the «Tango nuevo».
