Performers:
July Lill (mezzo-soprano, Estonian National Opera)Theodor Sink (cello)
Kadri-Ann Sumera (piano)
Jaak Juske (comments)
Programme:
Sostakovich. Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40
Shostakovich. “Six Poems to the Words of Marina Tsvetaeva”, Op. 143a
Shostakovich. Prelude and Fugue in D minor No. 24, Op. 87
Relations between Shostakovich and Stalin were complicated. The composer tried to stay true to his music, but the dictator made it almost impossible – sometimes by banning performances of his works, sometimes by commissioning them for military actions. For example, the composer had to write the “Suite on Finnish Themes” for the march of Soviet forces into Helsinki. In 1948, however, Shostakovich and his work fell permanently out of Stalin’s favor.
