Sanderling und Hadelich by Britten, Shostakovich, dom. 15 jun 2025, De (2025/2025), Director Michael Sanderling, Kulturpalast, Dresde, Alemania

He suspected that the Second World War would soon break out. Benjamin Britten did not stay in England, he embarked for Canada. As an avowed pacifist, you can also hear in his music how difficult this must have been for him to bear. He was still writing his Violin Concerto in D minor on the crossing, which Augustin Hadelich plays in our concert. Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony is also marked by this war, even though it was composed on the other side, namely in Stalin's Soviet Union. For Shostakovich, it was a balancing act: he did not want to write optimistic music, but it could not be tragic. The result is a work that reflects these contradictions. Michael Sanderling is considered one of the Shostakovich experts among the conductors of our time. He experienced his father's close friendship with the composer himself as a child.