Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Featuring

Paavo Järvi
Alexander Toradze
Jürgen Ellensohn
George Vatchnadze
hr-Sinfonieorchester
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Performer Biography

Paavo Järvi, the Chief Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2006, is an Estonian conductor who studied with Leonard Bernstein.

Composition History

Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35, premiered on October 15, 1933, in Leningrad, with the composer himself playing the piano part.

Composition History

Shostakovich composed both the Concertino for two pianos, Op. 94, and the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102, for his son Maxim, who was a gifted young pianist.

Composer Biography

Dmitri Shostakovich, after graduating from the Leningrad Conservatory in 1925, initially pursued a career as both a pianist and composer, even performing his own works publicly.

Historical Context

Between Shostakovich's first and second piano concertos, a period of almost 25 years, his situation changed drastically due to Stalinist purges and accusations of "formalism" in his works.

Compositional Technique

The Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35, uniquely features a solo trumpet as the only wind instrument, which Shostakovich used for parodistic effect, even quoting Haydn.

Performer Biography

Alexander Toradze, born in Tbilisi, Georgia, is a renowned pianist who graduated from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and is known for his masterful virtuosity in the Romantic tradition.