Vasily Petrenko conducts Shostakovich.
Brahms wrote his Double Concerto as a kind of peace offering – intended to restore his old friendship with the great violinist Joachim. It worked: at the rehearsals the two men spoke for the first time in years. The concerto rejects flashy showmanship in favour of glowing intimacy and a dialogue between the two soloists, and Brahms weaves in passing references to his friend, including the Hungarian flavour of the vibrant finale.
There’s no mood of conciliation in Shostakovich’s celebrated Leningrad Symphony from 1942. It was written in a city under siege, and for Shostakovich its composition was an act of defiance, a way of saying that life would go on as usual.
The symphony’s harrowing journey begins in conflict, with the menacing approach of the enemy, and ends in a spectacular but ambivalent victory. Relief comes in the gentler moments, but this fiercely powerful and intense music is not meant to put you at your ease. It’s “how I hear the war,” said the composer.
BRAHMS Double Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.7, Leningrad
Vasily Petrenko conductor
Alban Gerhardt cello
Karen Gomyo violin
Pre-concert talk by Raff Wilson in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes before each performance.
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – BRAHMS Double Concerto: 2nd movement
Henryk Szering (violin), János Starker (cello), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
conducted by Bernard Haitink
PHILIPS ELOQUENCE 464 369-2
Track 2 – SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.7 (Leningrad): 1st movement
Track 3 – SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.7 (Leningrad): 2nd movement
Track 4 – SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.7 (Leningrad): 4th movement
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DECCA 475 8748 (From complete symphonies set)
Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.