An Evening of Shostakovich

To continue Austin's year-long celebration of Shostakovich's centennial, pianist Melissa Marse and Russian bass Nikita Storojev will be joining the Austin Symphony Orchestra for two nights of the twentieth-century Russian composer's works.

The ASO will start off with selections from Shostakovich's score for Ovod (The Gadfly). Melissa Marse will then perform the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Shostakovich with the ASO. This concerto leans towards Romanticism (most evident in the second movement), while still incorporating some twentieth-century composition techniques (namely, a small amount of dissonance). If you've seen Fantasia 2000, then you'll recognize some of the main themes.

Chorus Austin will then back-up Nikita Storojev as they perform the composer's "Babi Yar" Symphony No. 13, a work based on Yevgeni Yevtushenko's poem (see an English translation here). The ASO's press release notes that the orchestral work "was extended at the poet's suggestion, by the addition of settings of four more poems, one of them specially written" for the work.

* Photo (c) morguefile

Austin Symphony Orchestra Shostakovich Centennial Celebration
Friday, Sept. 22 & Sunday, Sept. 24
Bass Concert Hall [map]
8pm, tickets range from $19-42, student rush tickets available 20 minutes ahead of performance for $5 cash w/student ID
[Tickets/more info]