Dmitri Shostakovich

The week in classical: Life, Letters & Friendship; Bluebeard’s Castle – review

The Carducci Quartet get to the heart of Shostakovich, while two very different interpretations of Bartók’s only opera enthral

Stephen Pritchard

13, Nov, 2021 @12:30 PM

On DSCH: Shostakovich and Stevenson/Igor Levit | Andrew Clements's classical album of the week

Pairing Stevenson’s Passacaglia on DSCH with Shostakovich’s equally epic 24 Preludes is a unique combination of rarity and virtuosity

Andrew Clements

09, Sep, 2021 @1:42 PM

Proms Festival Orchestra/ Wigglesworth review – jubilant one-off

A jubilant and light-on-its-feet performance of Mahler’s monumental 5th symphony made this Prom an emotionally charged occasion

Erica Jeal

09, Sep, 2021 @12:57 PM

Igor Oistrakh obituary

Violinist who followed in the steps of his celebrated father David, and joined him in works by Bach and Mozart

Anne Inglis

03, Sep, 2021 @4:19 PM

Online concerts need more audience support | Letter

Letters: Mick Murray shares the response he got from the director of English Touring Opera on the need for the public to connect with artists

Letters

28, Jun, 2021 @4:22 PM

The week in classical: Classical Vauxhall; L'Heure Espagnole – review

Fresh performances of Shostakovich and Beethoven open Classical Vauxhall’s mini-festival, while GPO turns its hand to Ravel’s clock-shop comedy

Fiona Maddocks

27, Mar, 2021 @12:30 PM

Shostakovich: where to start with his music

In the eye of Russia’s revolutionary storm, he wrote some of the most powerful – and cryptic – music of the 20th century. Whether he is judged a Soviet lackey or heroic dissident, the wealth of his musical legacy is beyond doubt

Martin Kettle

23, Sep, 2020 @11:00 AM

‘Rockers and spies’ – how the CIA used culture to shred the iron curtain

Musicians and artists were all enlisted to assert US power in the cold war. A new podcast explores the part the agency played

Ed Vulliamy

03, May, 2020 @8:00 AM

Rebels with a cause: the friendship of Britten and Shostakovich

The two composers were separated by the Iron Curtain and language but united by their art and their deep admiration for each others’ music. A new bi-cultural orchestra inspired by their friendship pays tribute to their common cause

Elizabeth Wilson

11, Sep, 2019 @9:11 AM

Ballet legend Alexei Ratmansky: how Shostakovich shook me up

As he takes his celebrated Shostakovich Trilogy to London, the choreographer explains how he was inspired by the Russian composer’s political risks

Judith Mackrell

07, May, 2019 @6:45 PM

Belcea Quartet review – fierce and fearsome Shostakovich

Piotr Anderszewski joined the quartet for a night of chamber music delivered with an almost superreal level of definition