Slavic Spark 22.1.

Thu 22.1. Paviljonki at 18

Lorenzo Passerini, conductor
Ettore Pagano, cello

Dmitri Shostakovich: Concert Suite from Hamlet
Sergei Prokofiev: Sinfonietta 
Aram Khachaturian: Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra

In David Pownall’s famous play Master Class, the old and utterly unmusical Stalin instructs the terror-stricken Prokofiev and Shostakovich on how to compose according to the Party line. The grim humor is irresistible, even though truth can be stranger than fiction: the real masters of Soviet music genuinely had to fear for their lives when accused of “formalism.”

And yet, who could possibly call Prokofiev’s effervescent, instantly engaging Sinfonietta or Shostakovich’s dazzlingly colorful Hamlet film music dry or abstract? Some historians even suspect that, in reality, Stalin’s attacks were driven by jealousy — the composers were so popular and internationally celebrated that a possessive dictator simply couldn’t tolerate it. Could he?

Caught in the Politburo’s teeth was a third musical genius: the Armenian national hero Aram Khachaturian. His fiery showpiece for cello, brimming with Slavic spark and Caucasian flair, finds its ideal interpreter in the young competition winner Ettore Pagano.