Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 And 2/String Quartet No. 8

Boris Giltburg (piano), Rhys Owens (trumpet)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Naxos / 2017

Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 And 2/String Quartet No. 8

Shostakovich’s two Piano Concertos span a period of almost thirty years. The youthful First Piano Concerto is a masterful example of eclecticism, its inscrutable humour and seriousness allied to virtuoso writing enhanced by the rôle for solo trumpet. Written as a birthday present for his son Maxim, the Second Piano Concerto is light-spirited with a hauntingly beautiful slow movement. With the permission of the composer’s family, Boris Giltburg has arranged the exceptionally dark, deeply personal and powerful String Quartet No. 8, thereby establishing a major Shostakovich solo piano composition.

Tracklisting

Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35

I. Allegro moderato

II. Lento

III. Moderato

IV. Allegro con brio

Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 68

String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 68: III. Waltz: Allegro (arr. B. Giltburg for piano)

Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102

I. Allegro

II. Andante

III. Allegro

Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 (Arr. B. Giltburg for Piano)

I. Largo

II. Allegro molto

III. Allegretto

IV. Largo

V. Largo

Reviews

“Giltburg has all the agility, power and expressive intensity Shostakovich’s piano concertos demand, plus the temperament to negotiate their mercurial shifts of mood. Every phrase is imaginatively coloured or nuanced, and never out of gimmicky point-making, always because he has something worth saying. And he has found like-minded partners in the RLPO and Petrenko, who not only follow and support him superbly but also respond and provoke where appropriate” – Gramophone

“Boris Giltburg gives sharp-edged accounts of the two concertos: the strident First more successful than the jokey Second. Excellent support from trumpeter Rhys Owens and the Liverpool Philharmonic.” – The Observer

“Boris Giltburg and Vasily Petrenko are a tight unit, the pianist’s dashing virtuosity and subtlety of touch matched by equally incisive interpolations from the orchestra” – BBC Music Magazine

“Boris Giltburg has all the fierce humour the music demands and has made his own arrangement of the String Quartet No.8” – Financial Times

“Snap this up! Giltburg and Petrenko work superbly together. Great value for money.” – Music Web International