Dayton Philharmonic - Shostakovich: The Witness

Dayton Philharmonic - Shostakovich: The Witness

The unique Classical Connections format features musical examples and explanation by DPO Artistic Director Neal Gittleman followed by a performance on the second half of the entire composition.

Event details

Address: 1 W 2nd St, Dayton, OH 45402 [Map/directions]
Event has passed (Sun, Jan 11 2015)
* this page may be updated if event is repeated in the future *
Cost: Single tickets: $11 | $14 | $21 | $30 | $37 | $41

Dayton Philharmonic - Shostakovich: The Witness

The unique Classical Connections format features musical examples and explanation by DPO Artistic Director Neal Gittleman followed by a performance on the second half of the entire composition.

Directly following is a casual Q&A with Neal and an Ice Cream Social with a free scoop of Graeter's.

When Dmitri Shostakovich decided to write a large symphony in which he could make fun of the recently deceased Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, he was able to do so only because the stringent policies Stalin had in place censuring Soviet composers for writing music the official censors termed formalistic (read cynical, dissonant, negative) had loosened. For example, when Shostakovich had written his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in the 1930s, Stalin had ordered the official communist party, state-owned newspaper Pravda (which, interestingly, means truth in Russian) to print an editorial entitled "Muddle Instead of Music," decrying Shostakovich’s work. Unflappable, Shostakovich completed his Symphony No. 4 but threw it in a drawer until after Stalin’s passing. Now that Stalin was gone and Shostakovich could move around a bit better politically, Shostakovich wrote his Tenth Symphony, featuring in its allegro section music that is at once Russian, powerful, furious, grim, antagonistic, menacing, and intimidating. Guess which historical figure the music describes?

The Schuster Center

Dayton Philharmonic - Shostakovich: The Witness is taking place at The Schuster Center, which is located at 1 W 2nd St in Dayton. The Schuster Center - Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center - providing a world-class facility for the best in local, national and international performing artists. Can accommodate up to 2,300 for meetings or 500 banquets. - read more

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance - The Philharmonic, Ballet, and Opera create art that celebrates life in the Dayton community. - read more

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