Last week, in promoting “The Lost Chord,” I wound up executing a shameless bait-and-switch, tying Shostakovich to the Super Bowl by emphasizing his rabid enthusiasm for football (albeit of the international variety).
This week, I contemplate a sequel. To coincide with the Academy Awards, I could just as easily spin the composer’s ties to the cinema, first as a house pianist who eked out a living with his improvisations, then later as a composer of over two dozen original film scores.
Admittedly, both of these angles, football and the movies, would make for interesting shows in themselves. Unfortunately, neither topic has anything to do with tonight’s program.
Rather the focus, once again, will be on a 5-CD boxed set, “Shostakovich Plays Shostakovich,” issued on the Melodiya label, made up of Russian state recordings set down largely between 1946 and 1958, with the composer at the keyboard.
As I mentioned the last time, Shostakovich was a fabulous pianist, who began serious studies at the age of 9. He continued, formally, at the Petrograd Conservatory, upon his acceptance there, at the age of 13. Once he began to receive international attention for his original compositions, for works such as his Symphony No. 1, written when he was only 19, his principal focus began to shift. He did, however, continue to perform and record his own music.
The documents in this box are riveting, not only for the musicianship they enshrine, but also because of their biographical fascination and their sense of history.
By way of example, we’ll hear a harrowing account of the Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor. Given its premiere only months after the liberation of Leningrad, the trio predates Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8. Both share in common a kind of inexorable, klezmer-inflected danse macabre.
Shostakovich always felt a special kinship with the Jewish people. Furthermore, the trio is dedicated to his friend, Ivan Sollertinsky, artistic director of the Leningrad Philharmonic, who was an enthusiast of the music of Gustav Mahler. Sollertinsky died of a heart attack in Siberia, following his evacuation during the Siege of Leningrad.
In 1947, Shostakovich sat down in front of the microphones to record the work, with violinist David Oistrakh and cellist Miloš Sádlo.
On a lighter note, “Children’s Notebook” is a collection of trifles (March, Waltz, Sad Tale, Merry Tale, The Bear, The Clockwork Doll, and Birthday). However, they certainly take on added interest when introduced by the composer, as they will be tonight.
The hour will open with the Concertino for Two Pianos – performed by Shostakovich and his son, Maxim – and conclude with the Piano Concerto No. 2, written for Maxim’s 19th birthday. Maxim introduced the concerto at his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory. Here, Shostakovich himself performs at the conservatory’s Grand Hall, at fever pitch, with the Moscow Radio Symphony conducted by Alexander Gauk.
In America, artists play with authority. In Soviet Russia, authorities play with you! Shostakovich gets all keyed up, on “Black and White and Red Redux,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
