Shostakovich and Sibelius

Power and Drama

📍 This event takes place at Powell Hall

Saturday, Apr 3, 2027, 7:30pm View Subscriptions Sunday, Apr 4, 2027, 3:00pm View Subscriptions

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Program

Stéphane Denève, conductor
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, violin

Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 10

About this Concert

“I wanted to convey human feelings and passions,” said Dmitri Shostakovich about his Tenth Symphony. This expansive work is at once tragic and unshakeable, relentlessly driving forward with a furious energy, a reflection on individuality and power in response to the death of Joseph Stalin. Danish violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider returns to Powell Hall to join Stéphane Denève and the SLSO for an equally emotional performance of Jean Sibelius’ soaring Violin Concerto.

- In his Tenth Symphony, just as he did in many other pieces, Shostakovich used a coded system to build melodic patterns out of musical notes that correspond with letters of people’s names, including his own and one of his students, Elmira. The second movement of this symphony also was Shostakovich’s attempt to paint a musical image of Joseph Stalin as a ruthless, tyrannical force.
- After a failed first performance of his Violin Concerto, due to a hurried final score and a soloist who could not handle the part, Sibelius reworked the concerto and ultimately gave it a second try, with a stronger soloist and under the direction of Richard Strauss. The revised, and much more successful, version is what most violinists perform today.
- Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider maintains an impressive calendar of performances both as a solo violinist and conductor. When asked which he would choose if he had to, he replied, “I couldn’t choose. It’s like asking you to choose one child over another!”