Shostakovich 15 at City Halls by Poulenc, Shostakovich, From (2015/2015), Conductor Alpesh Chauhan, City Halls, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Some composers fade peacefully into old age: others do things rather differently. The 71 year-old Janáček took a massive orchestra, lined up eleven more trumpets and let fly with his extraordinary Sinfonietta: a huge, brassy shout of joy that has to be heard live to be truly believed. Shostakovich, meanwhile, wrote a final symphony that seems to ask as many questions as it answers – and simply refuses to sit still and be taken seriously. Perhaps the brilliantly witty First Piano Concerto that Shostakovich wrote at the other end of his career will shed some light; but with BBC SSO guest Garrick Ohlsson joining Alpesh Chauhan as soloist, entertainment, at any rate, is guaranteed.