Max Bruch (1838-1920)

PROGRAMME: Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen: Prelude & Pantomime Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 PERFORMERS: Daniel Raiskin conductor Jennifer Pike violin Czech Janáček Philharmonic The Soviet authorities called it an “optimistic tragedy”. Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, tense, packed with secret messages and featuring a hair-raising musical portrait of Stalin himself; what’s certain is that Shostakovich’s Tenth is one of the mightiest of 20th-century symphonies – one of those pieces that you simply have to hear live. Critics have described the conductor Daniel Raiskin as “stunningly good”, so who better to probe Shostakovich’s secrets – and to partner the distinguished British violinist Jennifer Pike in Britain’s favourite romantic violin concerto? First though, Raiskin and this outstanding Czech orchestra share a gift from home: the woodland magic (and musical mischief) of Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen… “Superbly assured.” Gramophone on Jennifer Pike