For Pianists / SMS 6
Programme
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra
Valentin Urjupin, conductor
Alexander Gadjiev, piano
In 1935, after the huge success of his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, dark clouds gathered over the celebrated Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, as the opera was not to Stalin’s taste. The young Shostakovich instantly became an undesirable artist, which awakened rebellion and tenacity in him. He created the Fourth Symphony and was preparing for a performance with the Leningrad Philharmonic. Just before the concert, however, the orchestra cancelled the premiere, supposedly because of the composer’s aesthetic and political contamination. Consequently, the symphony did not see the light of day for twenty years. All of this time, the composer somehow concealed the existence of the symphony. When the Leningrad Philharmonic finally performed the symphony, he remarked: “It’s better than I thought. Definitely better than my last symphonies, the Eighth, for instance.”
In the first part of the concert, pianist Alexander Gadjiev will perform with the Slovenian Philharmonic for the first time since his outstanding success at the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021. A festival for lovers and connoisseurs of the piano.