Category: Dimitri Shostakovitch

I reckon that you can trust the Russian composers for a great experience in Concert. So, it was last Saturday. I had never heard the Khachaturian Violin Concerto in D minor ever. In fact I know little of the output of Khachaturian, the ballet scores: GAYANE and SPARTACUS, the most familiar. Aram Katchaturian was of Armenian extraction, educated as a child in Tiblisi, Georgia – that city being important to Josef Stalin. Stalin was extremely interested and demanding in his concerns for the influence of the Arts on his citizenry and, in particular, that of the influence of Music. During…

The EMERSON STRING QUARTET. One of the world’s great string quartets. They must be heard live. I have their recording of the Shostakovich Quartets (2000), which may account for part of my love obsession around all of the music by Shostakovich. Included in Program One was a Shostakovich quartet scheduled – so, no brainer – I had to attend. The Emerson String Quartet, which took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson was formed in 1976, while they were studying at Juilliard. In 2013, the Quartet was reconfigured when cellist Paul Watkins joined the original members…

Sydney Symphony Orchestra present GRIPPING SHOSTAKOVITCH, in the Concert Hall, at the Sydney Opera House. 15 November, 17 November and 18 November. I was taken to the GRIPPING SHOSTAKOVITCH concert by a dear friend. It was made up by the Cello Concerto No.1 in E flat major, Op.107 and the mighty, gripping, Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op.65, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, in the Concert Hall, at the Sydney Opera House. I am a relative ‘babe in the woods’ in my knowledge of music. However, I have, in my blissful ignorance, come to believe that Shostakovich is the GREAT…

  Australian Chamber Orchestra presents Olli Mustonen, Bach and Shostakovitch, in the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House, 20 September, 2015. The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) welcomed back Olli Mustonen, “a friend and musical partner of more than two decades standing”. In this concert not only is Mr Mustonen the piano soloist of two major and highly contrasting works: JS Bach’s CONCERTO FOR KEYBOARD NO. 3 in D MAJOR, BWV1054 and Paul Hindemith’s THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS, but also the conductor and composer of his own SONATA FOR CELLO & ORCHESTRA, which is being given its World Premiere. To conclude…

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra presents, DANCING WITH THE DEVIL, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody, in the Concert Hall, at the Sydney Opera House, 12 August – 14 & 15 August, 2015. This concert given by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), conducted by James Gaffigan, had the title: DANCING WITH THE DEVIL. The first offer was the Ballet music from Act III of Verdi’s MACBETH (c.1864). The witches of the opera conjure the imagery of the Devil and the sound composed for the French version of the opera was for the dance around the cauldron of spells. Almost twenty years after the original premiere…

The Metropolitan Opera presents Dimitri Shostakovitch, THE NOSE at the Lincoln Centre. How could one not take notice of these names, all on the same “bill’ and not want to see what they have all concocted: The Metropolitan Opera, Dimitri Shostakovitch, William Kentridge, Valery Gergiev, Nikolay Gogol and Yevgeny Zamyatin? Plus, for us Australians: Alexander Lewis (Who? – the young Australian tenor. Son of Michael Lewis, I think). THE NOSE is a co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and the Opera National de Lyon. It was first presented at the Metropolitan Opera, in 2010, in this wonderful staging…