Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)
Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 102
I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Allegro

Among the huge orchestral and chamber output of Dmitri Shostakovich (the 15 symphonies, 15 string quartets, operas, cantatas, etc.) it is quite surprising to find only two each of piano concertos, violin concertos and cello concertos - and no others. The violin and cello concertos were both written for particular soloists and friends - the violin concertos for David Oistrakh, and the cello concertos for Rostropovich. And while the first piano concerto is an early work, youthful and exuberant, the other concertos were all post-war works, written between 1946 and 1968. The second piano concerto was written for his son, Maxim Shostakovich, who gave the first performance on his 19th birthday on 10th May, 1957 in Moscow. Like the first concerto of 20 years earlier it is quite light hearted and witty, though not as boisterously so as the earlier work.

The first movement opens with a sprightly bassoon tune, followed by the soloist's entry with an equally perky tune. (Any relation to an English sea shanty tune is purely coincidental!) The movement bowls along very naturally and merrily, with much fine woodwind writing, and the soloist often exploiting the extremes of the keyboard, leaving the orchestra to fill the gap in the middle. The ending is almost abrupt.

The second movement is one of the most lovely Shostakovich ever wrote, haunted by the ghost of Rachmaninov once or twice. The horror that underlies so many of his symphonic adagios seems to be absent for once. It leads without a break ...

... into the finale, with its infectious high spirits. Listen out for the passages in 7/8 time, very unusual, but integrated so seamlessly they are almost unnoticed.