Shostakovich and the M6. One doesn’t normally associate the great Russian composer with the motorway services at Knutsford. But it was here that I heard on the car radio the news that the Soviet Union’s greatest artist had died. It was devastating news. He was, and is, one of my favourite composers.

THE SOLOIST AND CU ORCHESTRA - PHOTO: MIKE LEVY

And so, thinking of that day on the motorway exactly half a century ago, I was not going to miss the Shostakovich Festival held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his departure from this world. The centerpiece of the weekend arranged by the University of Cambridge was the orchestral concert at West Road. It was an astonishing event – one that will stay long in the memory.

The huge CU Orchestra was conducted by Alpesh Chauhan. The renowned young maestro marshalled this young but incredibly talented band to create a voraciously fluent sound, strong in all departments, lush in textures and beautifully together even in some of the toughest pieces – more of that in a moment. Chauhan doesn’t so much conduct but dance, hurl and strike dramatic poses – a joy to watch.

First up was a real Shostakovich confection: Tahiti Trot. This is a real showcase for the orchestra with some cheekily humourous writing for instance with two harps, celeste and sax. The piece is a series of variations on the tune of ‘Tea For Two’. It certainly warmed up the huge audience and guaranteed that we were in brilliant hands – the orchestra sounding rich, warm and expansive.

All this skill was needed for the central work: the first Violin Concerto, Op 77. The soloist was Hyeyoon Park. Dressed in a crimson flamenco outfit she attacked Shostakovich’s grand-scale concerto with astonishing energy, musical bravado and burning passion. Her majestic reading – at times faster than a Sputnik – had the crowd in her thrall. The work was written in 1948 but the composer kept it under wraps knowing that Stalin’s goons would hate it. It had nothing of the ‘comradely’ joy expected of Soviet artists at the time of public denunciations of composers who didn’t tow the ‘we love Comrade Joe’ line. It had to wait till the tyrant was dead and it got its first performance in 1955.

Park clearly relished every note of this master work. From the opening Nocturne with its uneasy calm – something evil this way coming – to the frantic Scherzo. This second movement contains some typically bittersweet melodies including a Klezmer-inspired jazzy riot (it was the Jewish nature of this section that would also have been dangerous for Shost in the USSR of antisemitic purges). Park seemed to take the composer’s frustration with his country’s tyrannical rule out on her violin. It was a miracle the instrument didn’t crack in half as her bow slammed down on the waiting strings. Here again under Chauhan’s baton the orchestra kept perfect pace with the soloist’s furious presto.

The next movement, the Passacaglia brought some calm, well again, edgy calm to the concerto – she really has the power to make the violin sing even if the song is a tragic one.

The finale is a madcap Burlesque with a typically Shostakovich gallop – like some crazed jester dancing on the grave of …whom I wonder? It was a thrilling climax which brought the whole audience, young and old, to its feet.

The final work was the suite from the film, ‘The Gadfly’. This is a big box of delights full of gorgeous music, some light, some dark, always earwormingly melodic. Once more the orchestra and dancing conductor created the most sumptuous sounds. If you don’t know this suite, often resembling the style of a late Tchaikovsky, give it a try. What you can’t try is the sense of collective joy that came at the end of this concert. Something to cheer us into the dark night, something to lighten the sad memories of a forlorn service station on the M6.

Photos:

Andrej Grilc

Michele Monasta

Marcello Orselli