Norfolk Symphony Orchestra

Shostakovich's first Cello Concerto was written in the summer of 1959 and was given its first performance by Mstislav Rostropovich. Shostakovich had a distrustful relationship with his older colleague Prokofiev, yet still admired much of his music including the 1952 Sinfonia-Concertante for cello and orchestra. Shostakovich claimed that he had played his record of this piece so many times that there was no music left, just hiss! The impact of this music and a friendship with Rostropovich were the influences behind the first cello concerto. There were still some mind games to negotiate before Rostropovich got his concerto. Rostropovich writes: "Once, when talking with Nina Vasilyevna, Dmitri Dmitriyevich's [Shostakovich's] late wife, I raised the question of a commission: 'Nina Vasilyevna, what should I do to make Dmitri Dmitriyevich write me a cello concerto?' She answered, 'Slava, if you want Dmitri Dmitriyevich to write something for you, the only recipe I can give you is this - never ask him or talk to him about it.'" At the same time, Shostakovich was well aware that Slava, Rostropovich's diminutive name, was after a concerto. In 1959 he announced, "My next work will be a cello concerto. The first movement, an allegretto in the style of a jocular march, is already complete. There will probably be three movements in all. I would find it difficult to say anything concrete about its content: such questions, despite their apparent naturalness and simplicity, always cause me problems. After all, it often happens that in the course of writing a work, the form, the means of expression and even the genre can change substantially. I can only say that this concerto was first conceived quite a long time ago." The score of the concerto, completed in July, was sent off to Rostropovich who memorised the solo part in just four days ready for a run through with the composer. By this time Shostakovich had added a further movement to the concerto and the "jocular" march had become much more sardonic.

The four movement form of the concerto is unusual in that the second, third and fourth movements, although individual in style and content, are linked. Shostakovich, who had a complete mastery of instrumentation from his earliest works, pared down his forces for the cello concerto. He added a solo horn to the strings, woodwind and timpani. This lone voice takes on a significant role as the music progresses, sometimes as an assertive antagonist, sometimes as a supporter to the solo cello. The first movement, based on the opening spiky four-note cello motif, builds more and more excitement and tension as it evolves. Nothing could be further from the acerbic mood of this opening movement, with its persistent rhythms and powerful drum-strokes, than the lyrical and melancholy Moderato. It opens with a quiet passage for strings before the horn is given the distinction of ushering in the solo cello. The music reaches an impressive climax before subsiding into a passage of extraordinary beauty where the cello's ghostly harmonics counterplay with the ethereal tones of the celeste. The highly original third movement is a cadenza for solo cello. There is a political undertone to give spice to the last movement: the opening theme starts with a quotation of the Georgian folk-song Suliko, Stalin's favourite melody. Suliko was also one of the main themes of Shostakovich's satirical cantata Rayok, a thinly disguised caricature of Stalin: wisely Rayok was never performed during the composer's lifetime! There is a most satisfying conclusion to the concerto as Shostakovich skillfully guides the music back to its first movement theme, adds even more excitement and rounds it all off with great panache.