I begin with a confession: I have listened to little of Shostakovich’s music, and am familiar with only his most famous compositions such as The Gadfly and symphonies four and five. I therefore knew not what to expect of his chamber music. Romance? Sarcasm? Beauty? Shostakovich’s vast output over several decades covered a variety of styles, and the three works presented here represent his permeable compositional technique. For this experimentation he was denounced in Pravda: ‘Muddle instead of Music,’ the infamous headline declared.

Case in point is the opening of the finale of his second piano trio (1944), composed mid-life and mid-career. Here, Shostakovich employed an overtly ‘Klezmer-like’ style – a bold choice for a Soviet composer in the mid-1940s. And I think that’s what appeals to me most about this music: Shostakovich’s tendency to stick it to the man. By way of artistic expression he showed his support for the Jewish victims of World War II, at a time when few public figures spoke out for fear of denunciation. I can assure you that in the chamber music of Shostakovich, performed so brilliantly by Vladimir Ashkenazy and his fellow musicians, you will discover romance, sarcasm, beauty, and more.

Alexandra Mathew