Dmitri Shostakovich died on 9th August 1975; the day after my 18th birthday and I remember the feeling of sadness and hurt I felt when I heard the news.  The 50th anniversary is being celebrated by a fair number of concerts featuring the great man’s works including one given my members of the COC Ensemble Studio in the RBA on Thursday.

The material featured was comparatively unknown even by the standards of Shostakovich songs which are, in general, much less well known than his symphonic and chamber works.  Matters started playfully enough with a four hands arrangement of Waltz No.2 played with appropriate whimsy by Brian Cho and Mattia Senesi  It was followed by the first of two sets by Duncan Stenhouse; two of the songs from Four Romances on Poems by Pushkin, Op.46.  Using text by Pushkin allowed the composer to express sentiments about authority that would otherwise have been very risky and these pieces are sombre.  They were very solidly sung with some impressive floaty high notes, variation of colour and fine work by Senesi.  Shostakovich rarely lets one forget he started out as a pianist! Continue reading →