Tchaikovsky Shostakovich Kraggerud Petrenko

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) completed his first symphony when he was just nineteen, in 1926. The symphony soon aroused the attention of famous conductors such as Bruno Walter and Leopold Stokowski, who conducted its world premieres in Berlin and Philadelphia respectively. The composer followed up with two new symphonies in the next few years, and established himself as the Soviet Union’s great young star composer.

Following this achievement, Shostakovich threw himself into writing operas. The first, The Nose, was not well-received, but the both musically and thematically challenging Lady Macbeth from Mtensk gained wide recognition in 1934. Its success was suddenly turned upside down when Stalin watched the opera in 1936. He reacted intensely against the work, resulting in an official smear campaign in Pravda. The composer was accused of being out of tune with the ruling artistic ideals and was commanded to change his direction to that of Socialist Realism.

Shostakovich now entered an extremely dark period. Stalin was in the process of tightening his grip, and the years that followed are often described as “the great terror”. Shostakovich experienced his friends being arrested and killed, and feared that he might be next. He withdrew his fourth, forward-looking symphony, and started working on his fifth instead, which took a far less radical musical direction. He saw no other way out than to acquiesce to official demands if he was to save his own life and the future for himself and his family.

When the symphony was premiered in the late autumn of 1937, things went as he had hoped: the music was accepted by the authorities, he was rehabilitated as a composer, and the symphony became a huge public success. Shostakovich’s secret was a subtle double communication: the triumphant finale satisfied official demands of positivity and reverence of power, while the sorrowful third movement, a lament for everyone who had died during the terror, won the public’s hearts.

In a book of his reflections, the composer declared many years later that the concluding triumph is forced, such as in the case of someone who is threatened into cheering. Observant listeners may already have discerned this, but it failed to register in the listening ears of the authorities. In Western countries, the composer’s official, humble deference to the powers that be in relation to the symphony led to a somewhat reserved attitude to the music. However, this was to change with time, and the work is today recognised as a virtuosic balance of styles and a symphonic milestone.

Norway boast numerous top-level soloists who are in high demand internationally. Henning Kraggerud is one of them, and has built up a large international fanbase. In advance of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’s spring tour to Great Britain, Oslo audiences will be given the chance to experience him playing Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto. The conductor of this programme is the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’s chief conductor, Vasily Petrenko.