He has returned to Český Krumlov more than once. “This is the third time I have been here and I wish I could come here more often. Not only because it is a beautiful and charming town but also because of the fantastic festival audience. It is always a great pleasure for me. I played in Prague much more often but perhaps I prefer playing in smaller towns because every concert, every performance is a great event here. They are not spoilt by an ample and year-round offer of concerts here,” is how he showed his admiration for Český Krumlov. Together with South Korean pianist Chulhee Yoon, who substituted ill Shiran Wang, he played compositions by Bach and Brahms. “Music is my religion and Bach’s suites are the Bible. No matter how long you have been playing, how hard you train, you will never get close to the core of that music. I always at least try to do so, it is a hard challenge but also a big satisfaction. I feel that the audience appreciates it. Some organizers are worried that this music is too complicated for their audience. In my opinion it is not really true because it always depends on how a person interprets it. When you play at an intellectual level, then you need intellectual listeners, but when you play with your heart, everybody who has a heart will appreciate it and it doesn’t have to be a big musical connoisseur,” he commented on the program.

After the concert Maisky admitted, “I have to say that today the weather really gave me a hard time as it affected the climate in the hall.”  It was very hot in Český Krumlov all day and when heavy rain started pouring down during the concert, it was stuffy and damp in the hall. “The stage felt like a swimming pool. And I am not a good swimmer, let alone on the stage,” smiled Maisky. “Not only was I sweating but so was my cello which I had to wipe during the performance so that my fingers didn’t slip on the strings.” However, this did not happen. In spite of the not really comfortable conditions Maisky played both Bach’s solo suites (BWV 1007 and BWV 1011) in the first half of the evening brilliantly and with the grasp of a master. After the intermission South Korean pianist Chulhee Yoon joined him. First they performed two of Brahms’s songs “Liebestreu” and “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer” in an adaptation for violoncello and piano and at the end Sonata No. 1 for cello and piano in E minor, Op. 38, by the same author. “I really enjoyed the performance with Mischa Maisky, we met for the first time. The atmosphere at the festival is great. The town is full of tourists even from my country. The environment here is very pleasant. I am really glad that we played Brahms. It is beautiful, deep and moving music,” commented Yoon. The whole evening ended with an encore by both artists – Adagio from Brahms’s Sonata No. 2 in F major.