International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch – Nine World Premieres and a Virtual Festival in the Time of Corona

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Due to the Covid-19 crisis the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch cannot take place as planned. However, together with MDR, ARTE and Deutsche Grammophon the Festival developed a virtual alternative. A unique online event taking place on 5 July will give the global audience a possibility to experience nine world premieres by Dmitri Shostakovich.

These are piano pieces, written at the very beginning of the composer’s artistic journey, will be played by three exceptional Russian pianists: Dmitry Masleev, Yulianna Avdeeva, and Daniil Trifonov. Located on different continents, these performers will come together in a unique online event: Yulianna Avdeeva will play at the Hotel Albrechtshof in Gohrisch, where Dmitri Shostakovich composed his String Quartet No. 8 in 1960; Dmitry Masleev will join in from the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, and Daniil Trifonov from his house in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The digital event will be broadcast worldwide on 5 July, 2020 at 2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on the official YouTube channel of the Deutsche Grammophon, as well as on ARTE CONCERT online platform under the title Shostakovich – Discoveries. The content, accessible on demand for 90 days after the initial streaming, is produced by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) in cooperation with ARTE, Deutsche Grammophon, Moscow Philharmonic Society, and the US-based firm Primavera Consulting.

This world premiere was made possible by the International Association 'Dmitri Shostakovich' in Paris. The organizers are grateful to Irina Antonovna Shostakovich, the composer’s widow, and to Dr. Olga Digonskaya, the Chief Archivist of the Moscow Shostakovich Archives. Over the past few years she has discovered a number of unknown manuscripts. This summer, she will be awarded the Gohrisch International Shostakovich Prize for this contribution to the preservation of the composer’s legacy.

“Of course, we would have liked to present our program to a live audience. However, the transcontinental stream is a spectacular alternative, which music lovers from all over the world can look forward to,” says Tobias Niederschlag, Artistic Director of the International Shostakovich Festival in Gohrisch.

“When I first sight-read these pieces by the young Mitya Shostakovich, I was immediately transported to the time when I decided to dedicate my own life to music,” says Dmitry Masleev. “I adore Shostakovich’s musical language and dark sense of humor. I have recorded both of his concerti and performed some of his most intense chamber repertoire. This encounter with his earliest works has really deepened my appreciation of his genius as a composer.”

“Nine posthumous world premieres by Shostakovich in one program – how exciting! For the Deutsche Grammophon it was immediately clear that we want to participate in this historic event,” says Angelika Meissner, Director Classical A&R, Deutsche Grammophon. 

SHOSTAKOVICH – Discoveries

With Yulianna Avdeeva, Dmitry Masleev and Daniil Trifonov

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Piano Sonata No. 1 op. 12

Three Fugues no op., world premiere

Scherzo op. 1a, world premiere

Six piano pieces from between 1918 and 1920, world premieres

Prelude and Fugue c sharp minor, completed by Krzysztof Meyer, world premiere

Sunday, 5 July 2020, 7:00 pm GMT / 2:00 pm EST

on ARTE CONCERT www.arte.tv/de/arte-concert/klassik/

on DG YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschegrammophon1

as well as on www.schostakowitsch-tage.de