Essential Shostakovich
Irony, pathos, politics, dance-like lightness and deepest despair. All these themes and facets are united in the music of Russia's great 20th-century composer, Dmitri Shostakovich. For many, he is the last great symphonist of all.
Read more…Shostakovich's music poses many questions. Laugh or cry? Should one dance unthinkingly along or interpret it critically? It's music that can irritate and disturb – or be uplisting. And it's often unclear where the line between seriousness and parody is drawn. March, or caricature of a march? Celebration of a political regime or biting, bitter mockery through 'wrong' notes, banal repetition and relentless exaggeration.
Shostakovich was born in St Petersburg in 1906 and his talent became apparent early. At the premiere of the 19-year-old's First Symphony the audience demanded amore and the second movement was immediately encored. There were early political attempts to co-opt Shostakovich's for propaganda at around the same time that Shostakovich sharpened the satirical, mocking character of his work.