VFO / TEODOR CURRENTZIS / MIKHAÏL PLETNEV

Tchaikovsky’s first true opera, The Voyevoda already contains the seeds of the characteristics that would make the composer of The Nutcracker one of the greatest minds of his generation: extraordinarily intense lyricism, the ability to transport us to a musical elsewhere (here, the atmosphere is reminiscent of Night on Bald Mountain) and a taste for Russian-sounding melodies.  

The composer’s unofficial fourth piano concerto, the Concert Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, enjoyed considerable success at the time of its premiere, before mysteriously disappearing from international stages. The enigmatic Quasi Rondo indication in the first movement highlights an attempt to emancipate from the traditional forms of the genre, the piece carrying the festive spirit of the Rondo more than anything else. The second movement, Contrasts, pushes the question even further, opening with a melancholic cadenza, before the solo cello joins the piano in a chamber music episode that is rare in the Concerto genre. 

There has been much speculation about the context in which Shostakovich composed his Fifth Symphony, the composer’s relations with the Stalinist regime being at their worst following the cancellation of his Fourth Symphony and his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Beyond the myth, this masterpiece of Shostakovich’s symphonic output is to be appreciated for its Mahlerian influences, sense of tragedy and intelligent orchestration, propelling the work into the pantheon of the great symphonies of the last century – and beyond.