Shostakovich's Symphony No.5 by Prokofiev, Arutiunian, A. G., Shostakovich, Nuo (2025/2025), Dirigentas Kahchun Wong, The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom

Much of Shostakovich’s extraordinary output was profoundly marked by politics and the judgements of censors. His monumental Fifth Symphony, one of the greatest and most powerful of twentieth-century orchestral works was, supposedly, ‘A Soviet artist’s response to just criticism’. It is now known that this popular symphony was composed as a work of defiance so subtle that no-one realised at the time. Gareth Small, the Hallé’s very own renowned Principal Trumpet, joins Kahchun Wong to play in Arutiunian’s virtuosic Trumpet Concerto. Optimistic in nature, alive with sinuous melodies reminiscent of the composer’s native Armenia, it is a favourite amongst trumpeters, and audiences, providing ample opportunity for the soloist to – for lack of a better phrase – show off a bit. Prokofiev composed his First Symphony, dubbing it ‘The Classical’, as a reinterpretation of the styles of the composers of the classical period. It is light and airy like Mozart, grandiose like Haydn, and an altogether mischievously joyful work.