Music by Silvestrov and Shostakovich

This program features the music of two great composers, Ukrainian Valentyn Silvestrov and Russian Dmitri Shostakovich, whose artistic expression was shaped by political events in their homelands. Silvestrov fled Kyiv in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Shostakovich struggled throughout his life with censorship by Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union.

Silvestrov’s Three Intermezzos and Triptych, written for Ettore Causa and Boris Berman, will receive their New York premiere in this concert. Shostakovich’s Sonata for Viola and Piano is his final work, his musical farewell, completed only a month before his death in 1975.

The music of both Silvestrov and Shostakovich transcends the enormous challenges of their life experiences and is filled with humanity, enlightenment, and profound beauty.

VALENTYN SILVESTROV: Three Intermezzos for piano (2022—New York Premiere)

VALENTYN SILVESTROV: Triptych for viola and piano (2023—New York Premiere)

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: Sonata for viola and piano, op. 147 (1975)