Shostakovich composed his String Quartet No. 8 in C minor in 1960, during one of the darkest periods of his life, shortly after he was forced to join the Communist Party. According to a friend of his, the composer was often experiencing suicidal thoughts around this time and dedicated the piece to the memory of the victims of fascism and the war (Shostakovich's son said that his father actually intended it to commemorate all of the victims of totalitarian regimes from that time, not just the Soviet ones). Later on, the violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai arranged this work for chamber orchestra. It is almost like this work, full of hopelessness and depression, was not written by the same Shostakovich as the one who wrote his Piano Concerto No. 1 with its cavalcade of ideas and obbligato trumpet solo part as a 27-year-old genius much earlier. The sparkling, virtuoso piece is full of allusions, quotes and unexpected twists and turns - a celebration of unbridled talent. And since we are on the subject of joy, this is what Beethoven's Seventh is all about too: this vividly rhythmically pulsating work that Wagner called the "apotheosis of dance” pays homage to the archaic cult of movement and the spirit of sacred and elevated intoxication. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, whose history dates back to 1743, achieved greatness in the 19th and 20th centuries under conductors like Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter. Since 2018, they have been led by their current chief conductor, the exacting, versatile and evocative Andris Nelsons, the pride of Latvia. Their soloist, Yuja Wang, who was forced to cancel her appearance due to illness, has been replaced by Mao Fujita. Still only 23 years old, the Japanese pianist exploded onto the international concert scene with masterful victories at the 2017 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland and the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest