Robert Trevino conducts Shostakovich

Conductor Robert Trevino directs the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the debut concert of its 2019-20 season at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Opening with Mussorgsky’s Introduction from his unfinished opera Khovanschina, the composer sets a cold morning scene with shimmering strings in Russia’s capital. Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 3 continues with impressionistic imagery, commanding an unparalleled virtuosic power in the piano’s flourishing displays of melodic passion and sensitivity.

Shostakovich’s Symphony No 5, written in mid-1937 when Stalin’s paranoia and insecurity was at a fever pitch, proved a triumph for the composer, much to his relief. There is a tangible anxiety felt in all sections during the first movement, especially the strings, which develops in tone to form an invigorating final movement, lauded by his contemporaries for fulfilling a militaristic Soviet ideal. Whether Shostakovich truly capitulated to the demands of the era remains debated to this day.