Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works Yuja Wang, Boston Symphony Orchestra & Andris Nelsons

• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Piano Concerto No. 1 with Trumpet and Strings, Op. 35:
• 1 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 with Trumpet and Strings, Op. 35: I. Allegro moderato 06:04
• 2 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 with Trumpet and Strings, Op. 35: II. Lento 08:32
• 3 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 with Trumpet and Strings, Op. 35: III. Moderato 01:52
• 4 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 with Trumpet and Strings, Op. 35: IV. Allegro con brio 06:52
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102:
• 5 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102: I. Allegro 07:03
• 6 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102: II. Andante 06:06
• 7 Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102: III. Allegro 05:21
• 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87:
• 8 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: No. 8a, Prelude in F-Sharp Minor 01:07
• 9 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: No. 2a, Prelude in A Minor 00:55
• 10 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: No. 2b, Fugue in A Minor 01:18
• 24 Preludes, Op. 34:
• 11 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes, Op. 34: No. 5 in D Major. Allegro vivace 00:30
• 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87:
• 12 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: No. 15a, Prelude in D-Flat Major 02:51
• 13 Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87: No. 15b, Fugue in D-Flat Major 01:38
• Total Runtime 50:09

Info zu Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra release their album with star pianist Yuja Wang performing Shostakovich’s two piano concertos. The recordings are part of Nelsons' and the BSO’s award-winning decade-long Shostakovich project to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death.

The album concludes with six works chosen from two sets of solo pieces: the 24 Preludes, Op. 34, influenced by Prokofiev and contemporaneous with the First Concerto, and the 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 of 1950–51 – a highly original 20th-century tribute to Bach. Yuja’s technical command and expressive range are perfectly suited to the demands of this music, bringing out the intricate counterpoint and emotional weight of these often overlooked gems.

„Yuja Wang ist eine wirklich außergewöhnliche Musikerin“, sagt Nelsons. „Wir sind begeistert, diese Aufnahme als Teil unserer Schostakowitsch-Gesamtbox mit der Deutschen Grammophon zu veröffentlichen, und das Boston Symphony Orchestra und ich sind Yuja unendlich dankbar, dass sie uns bei diesem bahnbrechenden Projekt unterstützt. Ihr freudiges Zusammenspiel mit dem brillanten Solotrompeter des BSO, Tom Rolfs, bringt den Humor und das Pathos des Ersten Konzerts zum Vorschein, während sie den filmischen Schwung des Zweiten Konzerts mit müheloser Eleganz und Bravour meistert. Yujas technische Brillanz und grenzenlose musikalische Energie passen perfekt zur Genialität von Schostakowitschs Musik, die die ganze Bandbreite der menschlichen Erfahrung im 20. Jahrhundert und darüber hinaus enthält.

Yuja Wang, Klavier
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, Dirigent

Yuja Wang
Critical superlatives and audience ovations have continuously followed Yuja Wang’s dazzling career. The Beijing-born pianist, celebrated for her charismatic artistry and captivating stage presence, is set to achieve new heights during the 2019-20 season, which features recitals, concert series, as well as season residencies and extensive tours with some of the world’s most venerated ensembles and conductors. Season highlights include Yuja’s year-long “Artist Spotlight” at the Barbican Centre, where she curates and performs in four distinct events: the first London performance of John Adams’ newest piano concerto (premiered by her in Spring 2019) titled “Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, which they take to Boston and New York City; recitals featuring cellist Gautier Capuçon and clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer; and she concludes the residency with a solo recital.

In autumn of 2019, she tours China with the Wiener Philharmoniker, presenting concerts in Macao, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Wuhan. The beginning of 2020 sees Yuja and Gautier Capuçon reuniting for a recital tour featuring eleven dates presented in Europe’s premiere venues, including the Philharmonie de Paris and the Wiener Konzerthaus. She then embarks on an extensive solo recital tour, appearing in renowned concert halls throughout North America and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, and the Het Concertgebouw, running from February to April.

Additionally, Ms. Wang will be the featured soloist with some of the leading orchestras of North America, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Andris Nelsons; the Toronto Symphony, conducted by Gustavo Gimeno; the San Francisco Symphony, led by Michael Tilson Thomas; and the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the musical direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Yuja Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007 when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings.

Yuja was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017.

Andris Nelsons
is Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. These two positions, in addition to his leadership of a pioneering alliance between both institutions, have firmly established Grammy Award-winning Nelsons as one of the most sought-after conductors in the world today.

Nelsons’ positions in Boston and Leipzig commenced in the 2014/15 season and February 2018, respectively. In Autumn 2019, Nelsons, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig came together for three joint performances at Boston’s Symphony Hall. This ground-breaking alliance has since led to co-commissions, musician exchanges, and educational collaborations. In May 2025, the partnership will celebrate a further milestone when the Boston Symphony Orchestra joins the Gewandhausorchester for the Shostakovich Festival Leipzig, a comprehensive and globally unique celebration of the composer’s music, marking the 50th anniversary of his death. Nelsons will conduct two performances of “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” and all major Shostakovich symphonies, including a joint performance of the “Leningrad” Symphony No. 7, featuring musicians from both orchestras. As part of the festival, Nelsons will also conduct the newly created Festival Orchestra made up of young musicians from the Mendelssohn-Akademie Leipzig and the Tanglewood Music Center, an educational institution which Nelsons has been leading as Head of Conducting since 2024.

Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig will begin their 2024/25 season with a European tour, returning, among others, to the Lucerne Festival, and culminating in the season opening at the Gewandhaus. A further tour in February and March 2025 will feature celebrated soloist duo Lucas & Arthur Jussen in concerts across Europe. Nelsons will conduct contemporary works by Gewandhauskomponist Thomas Adès, as well as new commissions by the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural composer chair, Carlos Simon. The season in Boston, which marks Nelsons’ 10th anniversary as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will include a complete Beethoven symphony cycle, a residency at Carnegie Hall in New York, and a European tour to Riga, Vienna, Prague and Leipzig with all-Shostakovich programmes. Nelsons will also resume his guest appearances, including a four-week Asia tour with the Wiener Philharmoniker, consisting of 22 concerts in 10 cities across South Korea, China, and Japan. The tour will also feature several world-renowned soloists – including frequent collaborator Seong-Jin Cho. Andris Nelsons will further mark his return to the Berliner Philharmoniker in December with performances of Bruckner’s eighth symphony.

Andris Nelsons is an exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, a partnership which has resulted in various landmark projects with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the Wiener Philharmoniker. Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra partner on recordings of the complete Shostakovich symphonies and the opera “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” – a cycle which has garnered four GRAMMY awards in the categories Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album. Furthermore, Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig recently concluded a critically acclaimed Bruckner symphonic cycle in celebration of the composer’s 200th birthday. Nelsons’ recordings of Beethoven’s complete symphonies with the Wiener Philharmoniker were released in October 2019. As part of the alliance between the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Deutsche Grammophon produced a celebrated 2022 release of Richard Strauss’ major symphonic works performed by both orchestras.

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