Released February 8, 2019

Shostakovich: Symphony No.4 (for Two Pianos)

Symphony No. 4 arrangement for the piano by Dmitri Shostakovich

Maki Namekawa, piano

Dennis Russell Davies, piano

STR004

In the 1930s composer Dmitri Shostakovich was condemned by a review in Pravda, his music essentially banned, and he lived under constant threat of being jailed and killed to the point that he kept packed suitcases by his door so he wouldn’t wake up his family when the authorities came to take him away.

It’s under these circumstances that he composed his Fourth Symphony.  The piece was withdrawn at the last moment before the premiere.  It remained unperformed for 25 years until after the death of Stalin.  The original score was lost.  We were left with only the orchestral parts and this little known but brilliant arrangement of the 70 minutes symphony that the composer himself created to play for close friends.

This two piano arrangement has only been recorded one other time on the Chandos label but remains unavailable digitally. This release marks the premiere recording to be available digitally.  It features the brilliant Namekawa-Davies piano duo.