“When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.”
Dmitri Shostakovich
around shostakovich
Wednesday 13 October 2021, 20:15
The Hague: Paleiskerk
caught in a formula
Ensemble De Formule:
Laura Lunansky violin
Floor Le Coultre violin
Sofie van der Schalie viola
Rogier Tamminga cello
Rik Kuppen piano
Kenza Koutchoukali
stage director
Vera Selhorst costumes and design
Programme
Sergei Prokofiev
Visions fugitives for piano
Dmitri Shostakovich
Piano quintet in g minor, opus 57 (staged performance)
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.
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