Alexander Mosolov
Donald Macleod presents an excerpt from Shostakovich's surreal debut opera, The Nose, plus his contemporary Alexander Mosolov's extraordinary First Piano Concerto.
Donald Macleod explores Shostakovich's brilliant youth - and the work of five extraordinary lost musical souls - amidst the turmoil and extraordinary originality of 1920s Russia.
Wednesday's programme features Shostakovich at his zaniest - and perhaps most brilliantly original. After two scurrilous arrangements of Scarlatti, Donald Macleod presents excerpts from Shostakovich's first opera, "The Nose", a surreal tale of nasal amputation and Kafkaesque bureaucracy.
The programme finishes with a masterpiece not by Shostakovich, but by his contemporary Alexander Mosolov - a man who would later be the only major composer to be sent to the gulag. Mosolov's Piano Concerto no.1 is like no other in classical music - a bewildering procession of melodies and influences that mirrors the chaotic artistic melting-pot of 1920s Soviet Russia.
Last on
Music Played
-
Dmitry Shostakovich
Two Pieces by Scarlatti for wind orchestra, Op.17 (1928)
Performer: USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra Soloists' Ensemble / Gennady Rozhdestvensky
- BMG Classics 74321 59058 2 -.
-
Dmitry Shostakovich
"The Nose", op.15 (1927-8)[excerpts]
Performer: Interlude (percussion)
- Scene III: Brr! Brr!.
-
Dmitry Shostakovich
Act II
Performer: Vladimir Sulisky (Kovalyov), Sergei Skorokhodov (Ivan), Vadim Kravets (newspaper clerk), Sergei Romanov (a countess's servant placing an ad) Performer: Mariinsky Soloists, Opera + Chorus / Valery Gergiev
- MARIINSKY MAR0501.
-
Dmitry Shostakovich
Alexander Mosolov: Piano Concerto no.1 (1928)
Performer: Rusudan Khuntsariya (piano) Performer: USSR Symphony Orchestra / Vladimir Kozhukhar
- MELODIYA 74321562632.
Broadcasts
- Wed 2 Feb 2011 12:00³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
- Wed 2 Feb 2011 22:00³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
Beethoven Unleashed – the box set
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Composers A to Z
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time – why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.