Sinfonisches Konzert des SchulmusikOrchesters

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) Symphonic Poem No. 2
Although she likes to be called Shostakovich's "favourite pupil", there are worlds between her scores, influenced by Old Testament religiosity, and Shostakovich's music. The "Poèm No. 2", composed in 1957, comes from Ustvolskaya's less radical early phase and at least shows traces of her teacher's tonal language.

Sergei V. Rachmaninov (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 18
The concerto, which begins quite unusually with a striking sequence of piano chords, still enjoys great popularity today. The use of the melodious Adagio, which was also used as film music in "The Darned Seventh Year" with Marylin Monroe or inspired pop musicians such as Eric Carmen to the ballad "All by Myself", which is currently quasi omnipresent in the advertising of the Deutsche Bahn, has certainly contributed to this.   

Dmitri D. Shostakovich (1906-1975) Symphony No. 5 in D minor op. 47
After two Pravda articles officially criticising Shostakovich's successful opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk", he conceived his fifth symphony as "a Soviet artist's practical response to just criticism", subtitled it "The Becoming of the Personality" and dedicated it to the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. As a result, he was rehabilitated.

Ji Eun Park piano
SchulmusikOrchester der Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe

Musical direction Stefan Ottersbach