Shostakovich vs. Mahler

ABOUT

In Shostakovich's late vocal works we find a rich inner world and strong invention, while the means are not extravagant. A cycle from the last year of his life sets to music the verses of Marina Tsvetaeva, a Russian poet with an incredible, unfortunately not unique tragic fate. The second (and last) piano sonata was not easy for Dmitri Shostakovich to compose; he embarked on a piano opus after a ten-year hiatus. He composed it during the war, when he and his family, like many other artists, were evacuated to Samara. The song plays a central role in the works of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Whether in the form of cycles for voice and piano or with orchestral accompaniment or as part of a symphony. To set the words of the early 19th century poet Friedrich Rückert to music seemed like an anachronism in the modern art-infused Vienna, but his verses, filled with natural images and inner feelings, clearly resonated with the composer.

Programme and performers

Dmitri Shostakovich
Six Poems by Marina Tsvetaeva, Op. 143

1. Moje verše
2. Odkud ta něžnost
3. Hamletův rozhovor se svědomím
4. Básník a car
5. Ne, Ne, buben tloukl
6. Anně Achmatovové

Bella Adamova – mezzo-soprano, Katarína Palová – piano

Dmitri Shostakovich
Sonata for Piano Nr.2 in B minor, Op. 61
I. Allegretto
II. Largo
III. Moderato (con moto) — Allegretto con moto — Adagio — Moderato

Konstantin Lifschitz – piano

Interval

Gustav Mahler: „Rückert Lieder“
5 songs on poems by Friedrich Rückert for mezzo-soprano, violin, viola, cello and piano (arrangement Stéphane Fromageot)
1. Ich atmet' einen linden Duft
2. Liebst du um Schönheit
3. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder
4. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
5. Um Mitternacht

Bella Adamova – mezzo-soprano, Chloë Hanslip – violin, Karel Untermüller – viola, Hana Baboráková – cello, Katarína Palová – piano