Festival summer
Klaus Mäkelä
Yuja Wang Maurice Ravel
Dmitrij Sjostakovitsj

The Austrian Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1962), elder brother of the philosopher Ludwig, debuted as a concert pianist in 1913. He lost his right arm during service in World War I the year after but decided, while imprisoned, to create his own path. After the war, he commissioned piano music for the left hand from several composers. Maurice Ravel's Piano concerto for the left hand from 1930 is today's most famous work. Simultaneously, Ravel wrote a concerto for two hands - Piano concerto in G Major. The concertos premiered with a nine day gap in January 1932.

In 1935, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) started work on his fourth symphony, stylistically his most audacious yet. It was completed the following year, but before it could be premiered Shostakovich was denounced by the party newspaper Pravda, no doubt on the direct orders of Stalin. The Symphony No. 4 was withdrawn, and in his next symphony Shostakovich chose a much more conservative approach. With his Symphony No. 5 (1937) the authorities’ criticism abated, and the new symphony was also a triumphal and lasting public success.