Shostakovich: Piano Concertos & Piano Trio No. 2

Featuring

Simon Trpčeski
Andrei Kavalinski
Cristian Măcelaru
Aleksandar Krapovski
Alexander Somov
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava

Dmitri Shostakovich

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Composition History

Shostakovich's Second Piano Trio is an 'extraordinarily painful work' linked to the colossal Eighth Symphony and dedicated to his closest friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, who died unexpectedly during its composition.

Composer Biography

Dmitri Shostakovich, despite starting piano lessons late at age nine, quickly mastered works like Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and Beethoven's 'Hammerklavier' Sonata by age fifteen.

Composition History

Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto originally began as a trumpet concerto before evolving into its final form.

Composition History

The composition of the First Piano Concerto coincided with preparations for Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, which was later officially denounced, forcing him to reinvent himself as a composer.

Compositional Technique

The Second Piano Concerto contains 'in-jokes' between father and son, including imitations of Hanon five-finger studies, which are standard piano-teaching exercises.

Composition History

Shostakovich composed his Second Piano Concerto for his son, Maxim, who premiered the work on his nineteenth birthday.

Compositional Technique

The finale of Shostakovich's Second Piano Trio features Jewish-inflected dance tunes and a dramatic climax where the music 'virtually explodes' before concluding tragically.