Zwischen den Zeilen – Schostakowitschs Fünfte

Dmitri Shostakovich explained that his Fifth Symphony depicts »the development of personality«. But the highly emotional music from 1937 also documents his threatening situation during the Stalin era. Sometimes imploring, sometimes frantically overexcited, the music culminates in an overwhelming finale. Franz Liszt's First Piano Concerto is similarly captivating. It is a welcome challenge for the up-and-coming Israeli pianist Yoav Levanon, who is making his debut with the WDR Sinfonieorchester. The conductor is Constantinos Carydis from Greece. He opens the evening with a work by his compatriot Periklis Koukos: a resounding prologue to Homer's »Odyssey«.