A Line Through Time

C. Debussy · G. Tartini · L. Berio · O. Respighi · M. Ravel

ConcertLab Performance

Join internationally acclaimed violinist Francesca Dego & pianist Francesca Leonardi for an intimate evening of music inspired by French and Italian composers on November 16, 2026 at 20:00 (doors open 19:15).

Francesca Dego

Italian American violinist Francesca Dego is celebrated for her versatility, compelling interpretations, and flawless technique. Highlights of her 2024/25 season include debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Symphony under Fabio Luisi, alongside engagements with major orchestras across Europe, North America, and Asia. A regular guest at leading festivals and venues, she has performed with ensembles such as the NHK Symphony, BBC Symphony, and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Her recent recording of Brahms and Busoni violin concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra won the Franco Abbiati Prize, adding to a critically acclaimed discography on Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon. A passionate chamber musician, she collaborates with artists including Mischa Maisky, Jan Lisiecki, and Alessandro Taverna.

Dego also champions contemporary music, is an active writer for leading music publications, and published her first book with Mondadori.

Francesca Leonardi

The first Italian pianist signed to Deutsche Grammophon, Francesca Leonardi has built an international career as a recitalist, concerto soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Born in Milan in 1984, she began playing the piano at the age of three and made her solo debut at sixteen, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13 in C major, K. 415, with the Rosetum Orchestra. She graduated with top marks and honours from the Conservatorio di Milano in 2004 before continuing her studies at the Accademia Musicale Pescarese, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and the Royal College of Music in London. There, she studied collaborative piano with Nigel Clayton and Roger Vignoles, earning a Master’s degree in Piano Performance and an Artist Diploma in Piano Accompaniment with distinction in 2012. Her international career has taken her to concert halls and festivals across Europe, Japan, China, the United States, and South America, including a performance at Ravinia and an appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Leonardi made her Deutsche Grammophon debut in 2014 alongside violinist Francesca Dego, recording the first volume of their acclaimed complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas cycle. The collaboration continued with the 2018 album Suite Italienne, while their later recordings of Mozart’s violin concertos and sonatas were released by Chandos in 2021 and 2022. As a chamber musician, Leonardi has performed with leading artists including Bruno Giuranna, Laura Marzadori, and Sonig Tchakerian, and has collaborated with Laura Bortolotto and Amedeo Cicchese on performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Alongside her performing career, she remains active as an educator, bringing together her experience as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist.

Program Notes

This Italian-French inspired programme brings together works connected by musical dialogue, influence, and a shared sense of transformation. At its centre are the violin sonatas of Claude Debussy and Ottorino Respighi, both written in 1917, placing two distinct voices of the early twentieth century in direct conversation. Around them, the programme traces a wider web of connections: Ravel’s Tzigane, partly inspired by the virtuosity and spirit of Paganini’s Caprices; Berio’s Due Pezzi, shaped by his connection to his teacher Luigi Dallapiccola and the tradition of Tartini; and Respighi’s own engagement with French musical language alongside his interest in neoclassical and neo-Baroque traditions. Moving between Italian and French influences, the programme reveals a rich musical lineage in which composers look back, reinterpret, and transform the voices that came before them.

G. Tartini — Violin Sonata in G minor, “Didone abbandonata”
L. Berio — Due Pezzi
C. Debussy — Violin Sonata in G minor
O. Respighi — Violin Sonata in B minor
M. Ravel — Tzigane

General Information

📍 Location: ConcertLab Studio, Servaasbolwerk 1a, 3512 NK Utrecht
📅 Date: November 16, 2026
🕗 Time: 20:00 (doors 19:15)
⏳ Duration: Approximately 60 minutes
👤 Admission: Open to all ages
♿ Accessibility: Wheelchair-friendly

Francesca Dego & Francesca Leonardi on YouTube

Other ConcertLab Artists

Parking Information

24-hour parking: €16.50 per car
Railway Museum (Spoorwegmuseum), located across the Singel from ConcertLab.

Address:
Spoorwegmuseum
Maliebaanstation 16
3581 XW Utrecht

Upon entry, you’ll receive an exit ticket. On the back, scan the QR code to pay by phone. After payment, you have 15 minutes to exit the parking area.

About ConcertLab

ConcertLab is the world’s first filming studio purpose-built for Fine Arts Music — spanning classical, jazz, folk, art song, and experimental electro-acoustic genres.

Based in a 16th-century monument in the heart of Utrecht, ConcertLab offers artists a unique space combining illuminated staging, adjustable acoustics, and the world’s only silent indoor drone camera.

Each performance is captured with a single flying camera, choreographed to move seamlessly into the heart of the music-making process. All films are produced in high-resolution RAW formats with fully immersive sound — scripted, edited, and mastered in-house.