Dmitri Shostakovich performs his own piano works, including Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2

Intense, searing recordings by the composer himself and friends – emotionally raw, often revelatory. Frenetic moments sometimes considered ‘black humour’ actually teeter over the abyss of panic.

Jessica Duchen

Our rating

Jessica Duchen

Published: July 6, 2018 at 10:08 am

COMPOSERS: Shostakovich
LABELS: Praga Digitals
ALBUM TITLE: Shostakovich plays Shostakovich
WORKS: From Jewish Folk Poetry; Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2; Concertino for Two Pianos; Piano Quintet; Cello Sonata; Preludes and Fugues, etc
PERFORMER: Dmitri Shostakovich (piano) et al
CATALOGUE NO: PRD 250 365.66 (1940-50)

Jessica Duchen

Jessica Duchen

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Jessica Duchen studied music at Cambridge University and was the classical music correspondent for The Independent from 2004 to 2016. She has also written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine and the JC, among others. Jessica Duchen has written librettos include numerous choral works and operas for the composer Roxanna Panufnik, including Silver Birch, commissioned by Garsington Opera and shortlisted for an International Opera Award in 2018. Two more works based on stories by Oscar Wilde were commissioned for Garsington’s Youth Company, The Happy Princess with composer Paul Fincham (2019) and The Selfish Giant with John Barber, which fell victim to lockdown, this has been postponed to 2021.