Brussels Philharmonic, Kazushi Ono, Lukáš Vondráček, Andrei Kavalinski

The day’s final concert gets off to a carefree and bouncy start: Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra provides a wonderful feast of manual dexterity and heavenly spun-out melodies, with former winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Lukáš Vondráček, at the piano. In the following piece, the same composer’s Fifteenth Symphony, written forty years later, clouds darken the sky. It is clear that the composer’s soul has become tormented and full of doubt. Toy soldiers are trampled upon by frightening battalions, frisky dances take on a macabre edge, and finally Shostakovich even calls on Richard Wagner for help letting Death into his symphony. It’s an absolutely matchless work, and it’s in the best possible hands with the Brussels Philharmonic and conductor Kazushi Ono.

Co-production 30CC