About this concert
Karina Canellakis and Shostakovich are the ultimate dream combination. The conductor has secured a firm place for herself in Dutch musical life, partly due to her varied programmes. She also has a special flair for Shostakovich. The Symphony No. 5 is one of his most ambiguous works, written in the darkest years under Stalin. Artistic nonconformity was mercilessly punished, and the composer was under a magnifying glass. As a result of these circumstances, Shostakovich had to walk a clever tightrope. The symphony was exactly what the regime wanted to hear, but is also full of covert criticism. When does a heroic march become a caricature? Canellakis brings out all these subtle details.
Darkness also reigns in the Swedish–Russian composer Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s The Kingdom of Silence, in which she makes the afterlife audible. It’s a huge contrast to Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 – crystal-clear, carefree music by a nineteen-year-old genius, featuring Alina Ibragimova as the radiant soloist. The music sings from the first to the very last note, with a touch of 'Turkish' exoticism thrown in for good measure.
