Shostakovich: Suite on Verses of Michelangelo & October

Featuring

Matthias Goerne
Mikko Franck
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Compositional Technique

The Michelangelo Suite, originally for voice and piano, was later orchestrated and features eleven songs, the same number as his earlier cycles From Jewish Folk Poetry and Symphony No. 14.

Composition History

Shostakovich's symphonic poem October was a commission for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution in 1967, a pivotal event for communist ideology.

Composition History

Shostakovich composed the Suite on Verses of Michelangelo in 1974, the year before his death, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's birth.

Historical Context

The year Shostakovich composed the Michelangelo Suite, 1974, also saw the arrest of writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch's emigration from the USSR.

Performer Biography

Baritone Matthias Goerne is a highly acclaimed artist, with five Grammy nominations and numerous awards, including the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award 2017 and ECHO Klassik 2017 Singer of the Year.

Critical Reception

The symphonic poem October received a lukewarm reception from critics, with cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch suggesting Shostakovich imbued it with subtle irony as an act of 'clandestine musical sabotage'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich chose poems for the Michelangelo Suite that focused on themes of mourning, loss, and death, reflecting his inner desolation after the deaths of several close friends and family.