The world will hardly ever find the unambiguously correct answer to what was the underlying "meaning" of Shostakovich's music. Was there anyone at all? Was he making fun of Stalin or paying tribute to him? Was he an elitist "formalist" who should be shamed and criticized, or a loyal party soldier who did honor to the Soviet state? Or was he really just a privileged official who wrote his music as he pleased and tried to go under the party's radar? Shostakovich spent most of his career falling in and out of favor with the communist authorities. And when the 10th Symphony premiered in December 1953, just nine months after Stalin's death, the expected speculation arose as to whether the work can be considered a musical portrait of the late dictator. This thesis had its supporters - but we can also choose to be content with hearing the 10th as an intensely emotional and dramatic tale of universal, human conditions, emotions and conflicts, written by one of the 20th century's undisputed greatest artists.

Evgeni Orkin

Events

Past events

Sep 5, 2024

Bruch & Shostakovitjs 10. · Odense Symphony Orchestra

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