Shostakovich x Beethoven

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.

Today, he probes its secrets once again, paired with a haunting Russian ballad for baritone and orchestra from Galina Ustvolskaya, a composition pupil of Shostakovich. At the centre, we are joined by one of Britain’s best-loved pianists – Benjamin Grosvenor – in a very different masterpiece: the young Beethoven’s exuberant First Piano Concerto.

This concert is generously supported by The Tong Family. 

Large print versions and digital formats of the programme for this concert are available on request for customers with accessibility requirements. Please email your request to Doran Crowhurst crowhurstd@rpo.co.uk at least one full week before the performance.