January 1905: Russia teeters on the brink of revolution – and as crowds of protesters fill St Petersburg’s Palace Square, great and terrible events are about to unfold. With its furious trumpets, revolutionary songs and clanging alarm bells, Shostakovich’s massive Eleventh Symphony has the immediacy and vividness of a great film score, charged with symphonic power and a profound sense of human tragedy. As a former music director of the Bolshoi, Alexander Vedernikov understands how to find the drama in this panoramic score, as well as matching Â鶹ԼÅÄ SSO favourite Denis Kozhukhin, flourish for flourish and melody for melody in Tchaikovsky’s battle-royale of a First Piano Concerto.
Prelude: 6.45pm in the Recital Room
Soviet music specialist Dr Pauline Fairclough of the University of Bristol, introduces Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony.
(approximate finish time: 9.30pm)
The concert will be broadcast live on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3, presented by Kate Molleson.
