Shostakovich: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2; Alexander Blok Romances, Op. 127

Featuring

Anthony Marwood
Richard Lester
Susan Tomes
Susan Gritton
The Florestan Trio
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Composition History

Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 was completed in 1944 amidst the horrors of World War II and the revelations of death camps, and was dedicated to his closest friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, who had recently died.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in Henry Wood Hall, London, across two sessions in January and October 2010.

Composer Biography

Shostakovich composed his Piano Trio No. 1 at age sixteen while recovering from tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Crimea.

Composition History

Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 1 was not published during his lifetime; the posthumous edition was assembled from incomplete autograph sources, with missing piano bars supplied by his pupil, Boris Tishchenko.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich declared that all his previous works had merely been preparation for his Symphony No. 14, which was partly inspired by Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death.

Composition History

The Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok were originally requested by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich as vocalises for him and his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya.