SCHUMANN & SHOSTAKOVICH

ROBERT SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43

Steven Isserlis violoncello
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Dennis Russell Davies

Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906–1975) Symphony No. 4 in C minor (1936) has been characterised as a “sonic panorama of the 1930s Soviet Union”. It is a prospect both monumental and frightening, with elements of sarcasm and irony so distinctive of Shostakovich. The work was written in a time when an aggressive attack was being waged against its composer and others. Shostakovich did, however, complete the symphony and entrusted the Leningrad Philharmonic with its performance. Instead of proceeding with the premičre, a note was published that the composer had had it withdrawn. We now know that this was an act of self-preservation. Shostakovich’s life was at risk, and he even contemplated suicide. In 1945, with Mieczysław Weinberg he played his own arrangement of the symphony for two pianos in a private concert, gradually reconciling himself to the fact that a public performance would be unlikely. It did eventually happen, though, on 30 December 1961, thanks to the chief conductor of Moscow Philharmonic Kirill Kondrashin.

The concert can be purchased as a part of a full subscription at the Ticket office of Filharmonie Brno on Besední Street and online from 27 May 2024.
The concert will be sold separately from 17 June 2024.