Isata Kanneh Mason, OBC & Anja Bihlmaier

Dmitri Shostakovich  wrote Symphony No. 10,  after overcoming a hostile environment. The symphony was a great success and led to years of great national and international recognition.

Sergei Prokofiev premiered his Piano Concerto No. 3 in Chicago three years after abandoning Russia. The composer’s music for piano includes some of his most inspired works, always marked by an ironic attitude to tradition. The aggressive use of rhythm, irresistible lyricism, and the soloist’s virtuoso interplay with the orchestra have made this one of Prokofiev’s most popular works.