D. Shostakovich, E. Denisov, G. Gorelova
SEASON OPENING
“DIMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH. SCORE OF MEMORY”
Ensemble of soloists “Classic-Avant-garde”
Artistic director and conductor – Lyudmila Kalinovskaya
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“The concert is dedicated to the work and personality of Dmitri Shostakovich – a great classicist of the 20th century. The significance of his contribution to the history of music cannot be overestimated. The composer was closely connected with the fate of his country, involved in the pain and troubles of his people, which is why he was able to express with such force and passion the contradictions of the time, to assess the era with a harsh moral judgement.
His desire to embody the most acute conflicts of the modern world with its grandiose upheavals and fierce clash of opposing forces was reflected in his major symphonic works.
During the Great Patriotic War, Shostakovich joined the first ranks of artists fighting against fascism. His Seventh “Leningrad” Symphony (1941) was perceived throughout the world as the living voice of a fighting people who were engaged in a battle not for life but for death in the name of the right to exist and in defence of the highest human values.
The concert will feature the Chamber Symphony “In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War”, Op.110a, based on Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.8, which Rudolf Barshai, founder and Artistic Director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, arranged for string orchestra with the author’s permission. The programme will include the Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op.11 (1924–1925) arranged for string orchestra, as well as Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano arranged for the Classic-Avant-Garde Ensemble. In addition to Shostakovich's works, compositions by Edison Denisov and Galina Gorelova will be performed.
Shostakovich’s work, humanistic in its essence and truly artistic in form, has won worldwide recognition.”
Lyudmila Kalinovskaya
