Benjamin Britten: Suite from Death in Venice arr. Steuart Bedford
Dmitry Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No.2
Interval
Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No.15

Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts Shostakovich with the Philharmonia - Cello Concerto No 2 with soloist Sol Gabetta and Symphony No.15. The concert opens with Britten's Death in Venice.

A fascinating programme that finds two creative giants, towards the end of their respective careers, composing with bracing inventiveness and insight.

The unbearably poignant Death in Venice was Britten's final opera, composed as a tribute to his beloved partner, the tenor Peter Pears.

This was during the early 1970s when Shostakovich was concurrently working on his last Symphony, a tour-de-force of coruscating ingenuity that includes a number of musical quotations, including a snippet from Rossini's William Tell.

When asked about it, Shostakovich reasoned that, 'I don't quite know myself why the quotations are there, but I could not not include them.'

Performers

Philharmonia Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Sol Gabetta cello

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