Rouvali conducts Shostakovich

Dmitry Shostakovich’s Fifteenth is perhaps the most enigmatic symphony of the twentieth century. In this work, the composer goes in search of his (and our) relationship with the musical past. He quotes musical predecessors like Rossini and Wagner, in addition to himself. These quotations raise profound musical and philosophical questions: where does it all come from, how far have we come, and where does it all go? The bare, withering ending is one of the most poignant passages in the symphonic repertoire, which Shostakovich, then a sixty-five-year-old heart patient, composed knowing the end was nigh.  

A very special role is reserved in the work for an extensive percussion section. It promises to be a special performance under the baton of Santtu-Matias Rouvali, himself originally a percussionist. Speaking of percussion: in Ennio Morricone’s trumpet concerto Ut, Omar Tomasoni’s virtuoso part is supported by timpani. With otherworldly sounds, the ever innovative Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir investigates what it would be like to fall into a black hole - into the unknown.