Double meanings

Shostakovich was more than once in collision with the Soviet regime. Nonetheless, in 1941 he received the Stalin Prize for his Piano Quintet. A questionable honour. How could this piece have been so highly valued by the same authorities, who had dismissed his opera Lady Macbeth as “chaos instead of music”? In the theatrical performance Caught in a Formula, the musicians of De Formule and director Kenza Koutchoukali delve into the hidden drama in Shostakovich’s music. They search for double meanings and wonder how free we are today to tell our own stories.

In Russia before Stalin’s coup, there was more artistic freedom. In the 1910s and 20s, musical life was in full swing. Composers were able to engage in exciting experiments. A driving force behind the musical innovations was Sergei Prokofiev. In 1917 he completed his piano cycle Visions fugitives, in which he translated the symbolist poems of Konstantin Balmont into music. Visions fugitives continues to fascinate listeners because of its elusive beauty.