Spotlight: Shostakovich and Liszt at Minnesota Orchestra
Classical music: Minnesota Orchestra performs music of Shostakovich, Liszt
March 21, 2009 at 7:21PM
Thursday-Friday: Written for the 40th anniversary (1957) of the Bolshevik Revolution, Dmitri Shostakovich's 11th Symphony memorializes a Czarist massacre in 1905. Socialist realism at its dreariest? As so often with this composer, things aren't quite what they seem. In a talk preceding this week's performances of the symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra, conductor Andrew Litton will shed light on what the wily Russian was up to. Also on the docket is Liszt's highly individualist Second Piano Concerto, with the always-welcome William Wolfram. (7:30 p.m. Thu., 8 p.m. Fri. $25-$83. Orchestra Hall, 11th St. and Nicollet Mall, Mpls. 612-371-5656, or www.minnesotaorchestra.org.)
LARRY FUCHSBERG
