In communist Russia, Soviet officials called it an ‘optimistic tragedy’. Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, tense, packed with secret messages and featuring at its centre a terrifying scherzo that might or might not be musical portrait of Stalin himself. Shostakovich’s Tenth is one of the greatest of all 20th-century symphonies, and few living conductors understand it more intimately than RPO Music Director Vasily Petrenko. ‘Shattering’ and ‘thrilling’ were just two of the words that critics used to describe his recording of the Tenth Symphony.

Shostakovich x Beethoven

Royal Festival Hall

Young Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili (born 2000) has quickly made a name for himself on the international concert scene. A major turning point came in 2019 when he won the prestigious Vigo International Piano Competition – with legendary pianist Martha Argerich as jury chair. He was a BBC New Generation Artist 2023–25 and is now nominated for ECHO Rising Stars.

Piano Solo – Giorgi Gigashvili

Konserthuset Stockholm

Some photos on Giorgi Gigashvili's Instagram profile suggest he's more likely to be in a Berlin techno club than on a classical concert stage. For the Georgian pianist, born in 2000, these worlds aren't so contradictory after all – he's playing sonatas by Scarlatti one moment, singing and accompanying folk songs from his homeland the next, and experimenting with electronic music shortly after. And with success: Prizes at prestigious piano competitions, a place among Georgia's Forbes magazine's most influential "30 under 30," and a nomination as a "Rising Star" by the European Concert Hall Organization all mark his young career.

EPSG:4326

Giorgi Gigashvili, Klavier

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

In its Carte Blanche series , the MUK regularly invites contemporary composers to develop a concert program together with students. 

Cartes blanche to Pierluigi Billone

Musikverein Wien

Musica dolorosa — Kopatchinskaja · Hinterhäuser · Camerata Salzburg · Ahss

Mozarteum Foundation

The Cleveland Orchestra is thrilled to announce its captivating performance, "Vox Humana," set to take place on May 23-24, 2025, at the prestigious Mandel Concert Hall within the Severance Music Center. Under the baton of the renowned conductor Franz Welser-Möst, this event promises to be an unforgettable experience for classical music enthusiasts.

The performance will feature a diverse and emotionally rich program, including Poulenc's "La voix humaine," J.S. Bach's "Concerto from Komm, Jesu, komm" and "Aria from Komm, Jesu, komm," Ustvolskaya's "Symphony No. 5, Amen," and R. Strauss's "Symphonic Fantasy on Die Frau ohne Schatten." The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by the talented soprano Sarah Aristidou, narrator Tony Sias, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, ensuring a night of exquisite musical artistry.

This event is part of the 2025 Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival, highlighting the orchestra's commitment to delivering performances of the highest caliber. Tickets are available for subscription, offering attendees the chance to secure their seats for this much-anticipated event.

The Severance Music Center, known for its commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, offers a range of services to ensure all attendees can enjoy the performance comfortably. These include wheelchair access and seating, companion wheelchair seating, assistance for the deaf or hard of hearing, assistance for the blind or persons with low vision, and service animal accommodations. Pre-paid parking passes for the adjacent Case Western Reserve University's CWRU Lot 29 Campus Center Garage are also available for select performances.

Don't miss the opportunity to experience the profound beauty and emotional depth of "Vox Humana" performed by The Cleveland Orchestra. Secure your tickets now for an evening of unforgettable musical excellence.

Vox Humana

Severance Music Center

Guzal Isametdinova performs a recital of works by Schubert, Vaughan Williams, Chausson and more.

Student Degree Recital: Guzal Isametdinova, Collaborative Piano D.M.A. Recital

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Giorgi Gigashvili

Gewandhaus

Galina Ustvolskaya was a woman whose work was characterized by ascetic contemplation and uncompromising outbursts. From 1937 to 1947 she studied at the conservatory in her hometown of Leningrad, where Dmitri Shostakovich was not only one of her most important teachers, but also one of her great admirers. Shostakovich is quoted as saying that he was just a talent, she was a phenomenon. Until the end, the composer lived a secluded life and avoided any publicity. "I write when I am in a state of grace. Then the work rests for a while, and when its time comes, I release it. If its time does not come, I destroy it." After 1990, the composer did not release a single further work for performance until her death in 2006.

Cambreling – Verdi Requiem

Laeiszhalle Hamburg

‘Childhood scenes, somewhat naïve, and bright moods associated with spring’ is how Shostakovich characterised his string quartet debut, a distraction from the political manoeuvrings that would still haunt the 5th quartet, whose coded defiance to Stalin also references the Clarinet Trio by his friend and sometime pupil Galina Ustvolskaya. 

Shostakovich Quartets: Intimate Portraits, Part 1

Milton Court Concert Hall

This program celebrates the rich variety and enduring beauty of the Russian repertoire—from the intricate textures in Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins and the aching beauty in Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque to the stark, powerful expressions in Ustvolskaya’s Clarinet Trio. Violin virtuosos Paul Huang and Danbi Um—described, respectively, by The Strad as possessing an “unfailingly attractive, golden, and resonant tone” and being an “utterly dazzling” artist—share the Festival stage for the first time. 

Russian Odyssey: Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev

New Mexico Museum of Art

Galina Ustvolskaya joined the composition class of Dmitri Shostakovich at Leningrad State Conservatoire in St Petersburg, and immediately won his esteem, with the elder predicting 'world fame'. 

However, the conditions couldn't have been much worse: it was the time of 'Great Terror', the Soviet Union's clamp down on any radical thinkers and artists who veered from the communist line. 

Sound Within Sound: Ustvolskaya 

Southbank Centre

Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven and Galina Ustvolskaya.

Conor Hanick, piano

St. Mark's-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church

As Beethoven approached the end of his life, his imagination scaled new heights – and nowhere more poetically than in his late piano sonata Op.109. To commemorate Beethoven’s death in 1827, we’re including it twice in the Steinway Series, and today it’s the remarkable Samson Tsoy who explores its “deep, searching lyricism”: framed by Tsoy with Beethoven-inspired masterworks by Brahms and Galina Ustvolskaya.

Galina Ustvolskaya

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 22, 2026

Steinway International Piano Series: Samson Tsoy · Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

May 2, 2027

Music of the Future – Contemporary Chamber Music · Budapest Festival Orchestra

Past events

Feb 3, 2026

Shostakovich x Beethoven · Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Feb 1, 2026

Piano Solo – Giorgi Gigashvili · Konserthuset Stockholm

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