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Mozart and Shostakovich (2006)

Mozart and Shostakovich

In addition to being the 250th anniversary of the birth year of Mozart, 2006 marks the centennial of Shostakovich’s birth. Few composers have pursued their art under more disparate circumstances than these two creative geniuses. While each showed great promise at an early age, Shostakovich struggled under an oppressive Soviet regime, while Salzburg’s promising wunderkind traveled Europe freely and enjoyed the life of a cultural celebrity. Stalin’s stifling cultural mandates and the grave social circumstances of the time served as impetus for many of Shostakovich’s most disturbing and powerful works. The dolorous Piano Trio no. 2, composed as an elegy for the young Russian intellectual (and Stalin’s public scapegoat) Ivan Sollertinsky, traces the writer’s path from youthful vigor to untimely death. Mozart’s Piano Quartet in g minor ends the program, blossoming from its famous brusque opening motif to strains of ecstatic joy.

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Selections

Piano Trio no. 2 in e minor, op. 67 (1944) | Dmitry Shostakovich (26:13)

  • Derek Han, Piano
  • Ani Kavafian, Violin
  • Peter Wiley, Cello

Piano Quartet in g minor, K. 478 (1785) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (23:31)

  • Ani Kavafian, Violin
  • CarlaMaria Rodrigues, Viola
  • Peter Wiley, Cello
  • Wu Han, Piano

Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, op. 40 (1934) | Dmitry Shostakovich (22:39)

  • David Finckel, Cello
  • Wu Han, Piano

Artists

  • David Finckel, Cello
  • Derek Han, Piano
  • Ani Kavafian, Violin
  • CarlaMaria Rodrigues, Viola
  • Peter Wiley, Cello
  • Wu Han, Piano

Music@Menlo LIVE’s Returning to Mozart series commemorates the festival’s fourth season, a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart and Shostakovich Total Time: 72:23
Discs: 1
Price: $15.00
Year Recorded: 2006