The Duel of the Violins tour returns in 2019 with its “spring collection,” in a version that will take in Alba Iulia, Oradea, Cluj, and Bistrița. Violinists Liviu Prunaru and Gabriel Croitoru, seconded as ever by pianist Horia Mihail, will be marking their ninth annual bout of dueling in between the symphony concerts they give all over the country during the rest of the year. The “autumn collection” will be launched in the second half of the year.
Having begun in 2011, the longevity of the violin duels between Liviu Prunaru, playing a Stradivarius, Gabriel Croitoru, playing a Guarneri de Gesu, accompanied by Horia Mihail on piano, has exceeded the expectations of many. 2011 was a year of realignments, in which the three musicians agreed to take up the challenge of acting out an imaginary battle for supremacy between the families of the two great Italian luthiers: Stradivarius and Guarneri. They have returned to the format year after year, and in 2017, they even called upon reinforcements, in a battle involving no fewer than four violinistic combatants.
