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Attend an orchestra rehearsal of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall on Thursday afternoon from 12:00 to 12:30 with free admission and whet your appetite for an evening of concerts.

The viola emerges from the depths of the orchestra into the spotlight much less often than its high-pitched sister. The Englishman William Walton gave it the opportunity for a particularly grand performance with his concert. The warm tone of the solo instrument nestles here against a colorful orchestral part that can also be heard in the other two contributions to the program - the sparkling sound of Lyadov's "enchanted lake" or Stravinsky's ballet about the love-struck fairground puppet Petrushka. These fairy-tale sounds are brought to life by Marie Jacquot, the designated chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Before Dmitri Shostakovich became a composer-critic of the Stalin dictatorship, the music world experienced him as a carefree, talented child prodigy: for example in his first piano trio, which the seventeen-year-old wrote during his studies - a one-movement, grand, racing flight of thought by a genius who had perfected his skills at an early age. Also worth discovering is the piano quintet by the far too unknown Polish romantic composer Juliusz Zarębski, which he dedicated to his teacher Franz Liszt.

Is Shostakovich facing further disaster? Three days after the premiere of his tenth symphony, the Soviet Composers' Union is discussing whether the work is too modern, too old-fashioned or too critical - after all, the composer had been ostracized by Soviet cultural policy a few years earlier. But the committee missed the grim satire with which Shostakovich ironically expressed his anger at Stalinism. Brahms' Violin Concerto, on the other hand, is presented in a sunnier light - a true celebration of the violin sound in close integration with the orchestra and a rhythmically well-seasoned "Hungarian" finale, performed by world star Hilary Hahn. This program was put together by Cristian Măcelaru, who is using this evening to celebrate his departure as chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra after six years.