The Canadian Alexandre da Costa started his musical development as a double talent. He learned to play both the violin and the piano virtuoso. It was not until around the age of eighteen that he definitely chose the violin. In Madrid he studied with Zakhar Bron, also the teacher of Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin. The Canadian has a great affinity with the music of his second home country, Spain. He
… recalls how Spanish music was sometimes best evoked by foreigners: by Bizet, Lalo, Ravel, Debussy ... About Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole he says: 'It is an image of Spain through the eyes of an outsider, but then an outsider with a high regard for the country. In fact, he understood the real Spain. ' Also special are the two suites from Lalo's Namouna, the ballet that Debussy was already enthusiastic about in his college days. (HJ)more