Festival for Shostakovich celebrates its 15th anniversary

The works of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) continue to exert a strong attraction on audiences and artists alike. The 15th edition of the International Shostakovich Days Gohrisch in Saxon Switzerland in June has also attracted stars of the music business. As the organizer announced in Dresden on Tuesday, violinist Gidon Kremer, cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, pianist Martin Helmchen and singer Matthias Goerne are among those who plan to attend. In addition to the works of Shostakovich, the focus will be on works by Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Raskatov. Mussorgsky was an important stylistic and aesthetic role model for Shostakovich, while Raskatov carries the Shostakovich tradition into the present day, emphasized festival director Tobias Niederschlag.

The festival programme from 27 to 30 June includes seven concerts and a film screening. The Shostakovich Prize will be awarded to Irina Antonovna Shostakovich; the composer's widow intends to come to Gohrisch herself. Raskatov, who has lived in France for many years, has also announced his attendance. "I've known about the Shostakovich Days in Gohrisch for a long time. Now I'm finally going to visit this historic place. It means a lot to me that my music will be heard in this unique context," the music festival quoted the artist as saying. He is currently completing a fragment left behind by Shostakovich - a romance for bass and piano. The piece is to be premiered in Gohrisch with Goerne and Alexander Schmalcz (piano).

"In the 15th year of our existence, we are celebrating the composer Dmitri Shostakovich in Gohrisch with a packed program. I am looking forward to renowned artists who have tailored their programs specifically to our festival focal points," said Niederschlag. The fact that many of the performers are coming to Gohrisch for the first time is evidence of the festival's increasing appeal. The return visit of Irina Antonovna Shostakovich (89) was a special honor. "Together with her, we want to focus this year on her husband's humanist legacy, which seems more relevant than ever under the current political circumstances."

This year's Shostakovich Days will also kick off with a special concert by the Saxon State Orchestra in Dresden's Kulturpalast. On June 26, Tugan Sokhiev will conduct a performance of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, the "Leningrad". It was composed during the blockade of the city by the Wehrmacht. Shostakovich later wrote in his memoirs: "But it is not about the blockade. It's about Leningrad, which Stalin destroyed. Hitler only set the final point."

Shostakovich was a guest twice in the idyllic spa town of Gohrisch in a guest house of the GDR government, most recently in 1972 with his wife. He composed his legendary 8th String Quartet here in July 1960. It is considered one of the central chamber music works of the 20th century and is also the only work he wrote outside the Soviet Union. Like his 10th Symphony, he turned the 8th String Quartet into a reckoning with Stalin.