Romantic Cello: Victor Julien-Laferrière plays Franck and Fauré by Various, Fra (2022/2022), St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, United Kingdom

Cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière plays Fauré, Britten and Franck: sophistication, sensuality and melodies that smoulder. When Victor Julien-Laferrière became the first cellist ever to win Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2017, critics were intoxicated by his “warm, luminous and pure tone, his clarity, playfulness and elegance” – and the accolades haven’t stopped there. Tonight, in partnership with his equally-acclaimed compatriot Marie-Ange Nguci, he performs a cross-Channel programme that pairs Britten at his most subtle with the Gallic belle-époque at its most ardent, from the controlled ecstasy of Fauré’s Second Cello Sonata to the soaring, supremely romantic Sonata by César Franck: a wonderfully poetic tribute to Belgium’s greatest composer, in his bicentenary year.