Alexey Botvinov and Mikhail Shishkin. A Ukrainian pianist and a Russian writer stand together on stage and send a powerful message: Art cannot stop bombs, but it can preserve humanity.

This event is a joint performance by artists from Ukraine and Russia – a rare constellation in today's world. Their collaboration is an act of conscience, courage, and cultural solidarity. The performance combines live music with spoken word. It is not only a tribute to the tragic love story between a Spanish singer and a Russian composer, but also a shared statement against war and dictatorship.

The new collaboration between the pianist and the writer is dedicated to Lina Prokofiev, Sergei Prokofiev's wife. Mikhail tells an extraordinary and dramatic story of love and betrayal, genius and cruelty. Prokofiev returned to Stalin's Soviet Union with his Spanish wife and their two children. He soon left his family for a younger woman, while his wife ultimately ended up in the Gulag.

An intense dialogue between words and music about tragedy and hope. A powerful literary and musical project about fear and human values in an age of terror. An evening of extraordinary emotional and historical intensity, a deeply moving project about art as a force for survival.

Lina's story, told through the four seasons of her life and excerpts from diaries, memoirs, and documents, reads like an indictment for the Last Judgment. Will Sergei's music serve as his defense in this final confrontation when the two meet again?

The program includes music by Prokofiev: selections from "Romeo and Juliet", "Visions Fugitives", and Sonata No. 6.

Mikhail Shishkin, One of the most important contemporary Russian writers, whose books have been translated into 35 languages, has been a vocal critic of the Putin regime for years. Shishkin's essays have been published in major newspapers in German-speaking countries as well as in leading international media outlets such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Le Monde, and many others. He was awarded the International Literature Prize in Berlin for his novel Venus Hair. The Times Literary Supplement writes: "Shishkin's language is wonderfully clear and concise. Without sounding archaic, it transcends the minds of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, reaching into the tradition of Pushkin."«
www.mikhailshishkin.com

Alexey Botvinov is one of the most renowned Ukrainian pianists and artistic director of the Odessa Classics music festival. He has performed in 48 countries and played Bach's Goldberg Variations live more than 300 times – like no other pianist of our time.
In Zurich, he collaborated with Heinz Spoerli as a regular guest with the Zurich Ballet. Botvinov is a "People's Artist of Ukraine," the highest honor for artists in Ukraine. Between 2021 and 2022, Botvinov and star violinist Daniel Hope made four sensationally successful recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, featuring works by Alfred Schnittke, Valentin Silvestrov, Philip Glass, and the "Music for Ukraine" project.
www.botvinov.com

Duration approx. 70 minutes (without break)
Free admission. Donations will be collected to support the artists.