Tomáš Brauner           conductor
Gabriela Montero      piano

Dvořák                        The Noonday Witch
Prokofiev                    Piano Concerto No. 3
Shostakovich              Symphony No. 5

Amongst Dvořák’s greatest achievements were his Symphonic Poems, vivid musical renderings of gripping, often gruesome folk tales. The Noonday Witch is a memorable example: a cautionary tale of a disobedient child and the menacing spirit that comes to punish it. Any terrors that exist in Prokofiev’s effervescent Third Piano Concerto surround the stern challenge it makes to the pianist’s technique and stamina. Long regarded as one of the great twentieth-century concertos, it’s passionate and spontaneous by turns, qualities personified by our soloist, the sensational Venezuelan pianist, Gabriela Montero.

Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony was an adept piece of political escapology at the point when his career, and even his life, was in danger following Stalin’s denouncement of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Ironically styled by the composer as a “Soviet artist’s response to justified criticism” the symphony not only placated his political masters but also spoke deeply to a nation living in fear. Powerful, poignant and shot through with Shostakovich’s biting satire, it’s one of the most gripping of modern masterpieces – no wonder its first audience applauded it for half an hour.

Free pre-concert talk, 6.20pm in the auditorium: Dr Joanne Cormac, University of Nottingham, introduces the programme.