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Versatile violinist Thomas Gould joins forces with ‘quintessentially Russian’ pianist Yulia Chaplina for a programme that dives into the music of Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Weinberg, written at the height of the Soviet Empire. Feel the desperation of artists trapped in an authoritarian regime and decipher their hidden meanings.

Weinberg’s Pieces from the Children’s Notebook (1944-45) give us a glimpse into his troubled childhood, as an orphan of the Holocaust, who fled to the USSR and became a close friend of Dmitri Shostakovich.

Shostakovich’s acidly comic Ballet Suites and film music offer a popular take on the ‘happy and joyous’ life of an ordinary Soviet citizen, providing a unique contrast with Prokofiev’s violin sonata. This exquisite sonata was premiered by David Oistrakh and Lev Oborin in 1946, coached by the composer himself. During rehearsals, Oborin played a certain passage marked forte too gently for Prokofiev’s liking, who said ‘It should sound in such a way that people would jump out of their seats, and say “Is he out of his mind?”.’

Part of the London Prokofiev Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9RqlmDYTs

Violinist Thomas Gould has forged a distinguished career as a soloist, leader and director.  With a fluency across a number of different genres, Thomas has become a highly sought-after collaborator, raising the bar for versatility on his instrument. Thomas joined Britten Sinfonia as co-leader in 2006, becoming one of its leaders in 2016. He regularly directs projects from the violin, and has been engaged as a guest director with Sinfonietta Riga, Kölner Kammerorchester, ACO Collective, European Union Youth Orchestra, Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia.

Described by International Piano Magazine as ‘quintessentially Russian’ and ‘with technical fluency and rich tonal shading reminiscent of the great Communist era artists such as Emil Gilels’, Yulia Chaplina is the winner of 7 international piano competitions. Since winning the First Prize and the Gold Medal in the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians, she has performed regularly as a soloist in many of the world’s finest venues, including the Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre in London, Berlin’s Philharmonie, the Grand Halls of the Moscow Conservatoire and the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo and many other concert halls.