Credits:

Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975)

Description:

Rudolf Barshai, a pupil of Shostakovich, arranged two of Shostakovich's string quartets for string orchestra in the "Chamber Symphonies". Barshai was an accomplished viola player and composer, and his arrangements, while expanding on the originals, never lose their tension, and are so brilliant that even Shostakovich recognized them and assigned them his own work numbers. The Piano Concerto was written in 1933. Officially, it is a "Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and String Ensemble," which requires the trumpet to have the same technique as the soloist. The melodies quoted from various works by Shostakovich himself, other composers, and even folk songs are impressive. The piano here is played by Maria Meyerowicz, a pupil of Anatole Ugorski. The trumpet is played by Sergei Nakariakov, a well-known Japanese virtuoso. Pietari Inkinen, chief conductor of the Japan Philharmonic and, since 2017, the Deutsches Rundfunkphilharmonie (German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern), brings powerful music from the orchestra to the work. Naxos Japan