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Rating: (Editor's note: written for the school newspaper... I apologize if it may seem incomplete to some readers)
Even journalists from major national newspapers are almost exclusively focused on him: the world revolves around Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, in the year of his 250th anniversary. Orchestras worldwide offer performances of his compositions, world premiere recordings of various works emerge, record companies distribute the complete works of the genius of Salzburg in all record stores; even the V channel of Rai’s Filodiffusione dedicates several hours of daily broadcasting to him. No objections, to be clear: Mozart was and still is a genius, a fundamental figure, one of the fathers of classical music, universally recognized for creating musical works of inestimable artistic value. And rightly so!
Giuseppe Sinopoli (the renowned and mourned conductor, as well as the composer of one of the most important operas of our century, the Lou Salomé) said that Mozart’s music is so perfect that it cannot be performed. Indeed, Sinopoli (also due to his shared personal passion) dedicated himself almost entirely to 20th-century composers, the so-called fathers of new music, performing only two orchestral works by Mozart. Yet in the vast reality of Mozart, it is often forgotten that this year also marks the anniversaries of numerous other composers, among whom Dmitri Shostakovich stands out.
Dmitri Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg on September 25, 1906, attended the city’s conservatory, graduating in piano in '23 and two years later in composition. At the beginning of his career, he dedicated himself to musical avant-garde, following various lessons from contemporary composers, but soon abandoned it to compose inspired directly by romantic music initially, and especially by Mahler later on, without giving up the possibilities that the music of the 1900s offered him: new sounds, new instruments, and reformed orchestras. His musical language, in any case, as often occurs with Russian composers, refers to Russian tradition and culture. He was one of the most important figures of modern Russian music and received various national and international awards. He had a troubled relationship with the Soviet government: he indeed suffered two official denunciations due to his compositions: the first in 1936, the second in 1948, and his works were periodically censored (The ballet “Lady Macbeth” was called “chaos instead of music,” while symphonies 4 and 8 were long severely criticized because they deviated greatly from the division of a romantic symphony, and for the use of irregular forms). However, he remained one of the most popular Soviet composers of his generation, received numerous accolades, and served the Supreme Soviet Council. His catalog is very vast, containing the beauty of 15 numbered symphonies (among which the most famous is VII “Leningrad,” while XII is in memory of Lenin, and finally numbers XIV and XV are entirely dedicated to the theme of death), six concertos for multiple solo instruments and orchestra (including two beautiful ones for cello), music for theater, ballet, and cinema. Several suites of jazz-symphonic layout, where contrasts prevail, slight dissonances, and above all entertaining melodies, often grotesque.
In memory of Shostakovich, a beautiful concert was held in Milan, at the Gustav Mahler Auditorium, on September 22; the Verdi Orchestra of Milan decided to inaugurate not only its season but the orchestra itself, recently founded, boasting honorary director Riccardo Chailly and emeritus director Rudolf Bashai, one of the greatest interpreters of the St. Petersburg composer's music, with three compositions by Shostakovich. The orchestra was very well conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, one of the stable conductors of the newly-formed symphonic orchestra. The first composition performed was by far the most relaxed and entertaining: the first Italian performance of the suite for large orchestra titled “Hypothetically Murdered,” op. 31 (so as you can see, one of his early compositions, significantly indebted to modern music, complex instrumentally). In the composition, divided into multiple movements and truly fantastic, strong references to jazz music; a very dense, complicated, and prolific score from many points of view. Clear sign of this is a large string orchestra, complete winds, with a beautiful solo trumpet in several points, and the use of an exceptional percussion section, which included every kind of instrument, from the canonical timpani to the unusual drum set, along with a Chinese gong, two tam-tams (two small suspended gongs), bells, xylophone, bass drum, tambourine, a lovely pair of harpsichords, woodblocks, and even a whistle. A piano was also hidden in the orchestra. A very enjoyable and entertaining score, as I mentioned, which recalls not only the music of Gershwin but perhaps even more that of Bernstein, and particularly the exceptional “West Side Story,” especially for the percussion and tones that incredibly easily shifted from clownish to light, culminating in more demanding melodies.
After a hilarious start, long applauded, we move on to a more substantial score, even more complex to listen to; this time the ear doesn’t tire due to the relentless percussion section, but due to the complicated melody, woven by the violin in the “Second Violin Concerto”; the piano exits the scene, and additional double basses and some additional basses join the strings. Almost absent this time, the percussion, with the exception of a tambourine, timpani, and a suspended cymbal “borrowed” from the drum set, intervening fortissimo at several points in the second movement, joined continuously to the first. The violinist Boris Garlitsky was commendable, engaged in a concert rich with sonorities, in which the violin is often tasked with playing on the double strings.
The concert closes with an excellent performance of the “VI. Symphony,” also for a large orchestra; the first movement was beautiful, a very touching “Largo,” enriched by harp interjections when the string dialogue, mainly, became less pressing. A long and rather slow movement, though pleasant, followed, however, by a second movement in “Allegro,” and a grand finale in “Presto.” The second movement is beautiful, almost crescendo from a so-called “Allegro ma non troppo” beginning until it arrives before the finale and a repeat of the initial movement’s tempo, at an all-orchestra fortissimo, signaled by timpani playing furiously, and a grand gong strike.
Lively and enjoyable the “Presto," exceptional for the construction, and for the reprise by the first violin after a new orchestral fortissimo where once again the percussion takes over, of the theme announced by the strings at the beginning. And among pleasant and excited designs traced by the strings, melodies unfold, once again somewhat clownish, entrusted to the woods, culminating in the mock-serious fanfare of the brass. The finale is breathtaking, with timpani fortissimo, earning great applause by the end of the symphony for the difficulty of their part, “main” at the symphony’s end, and truly complicated. A much-applauded concert.
The Verdi orchestra's program is available on the Internet and this year, much like La Scala, dedicates itself to 20th-century composers, including Holst, Richard Strauss, and the most popular Americans, including Gershwin and Bernstein, with a rarity from one of the fathers of American classical music, Robert Russell Bennett.
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