May 17, 2013  to May 18, 2013

Classics 13 (Ovation 7)
May 17 & 18, 2013 at 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre
Sebastian Lang-Lessing, conductor
Michel Dalberto, piano

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22
Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-Flat Major was written mainly as opportunity to show off the composer’s own skills as a pianist. Composed at a time when his health had begun to deteriorate due to overwork, in this concerto Mozart overcomes the physical and financial ailments that plagued him to create a graceful and majestic work way that critics have referred to as “the queen of Mozart concertos.” Written shortly after the defeat of the German army at Stalingrad in 1943, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8 is the composer’s response to the bloody human toll of World War II. He called this massive and somber work “an attempt to reflect the terrible tragedy of war.” Although Russian audiences enjoyed the work, the work was censored by Soviet officials and not performed in the Soviet Union for years.

Plan to arrive early for our pre-concert conversations with Assistant Conductor Akiko Fujimoto beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Click here for program notes