Dvořák. Shostakovich

In our third subscription concert, much-loved Czech conductor Petr Altrichter is our guide through an evening of spiritual contemplation.

Composed in New York, Dvořák's Biblical Songs reflect the sincerity and humility of their composer's religious devotion, expressed here in music of profound intimacy and lyrical beauty, uncluttered with superfluous virtuosity. Penned by Dvořák in the period prior to Easter, on this occasion they provide us with a refuge for quiet reflection in the wake of All Saints' Day. Rather unusually, on this occasion the solo narrative in this exquisite music is to be shared between two leading young vocal talents, Czech bass-baritone Lukáš Bařák and Icelandic mezzo-soprano Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir.

Shostakovich's late works are progressively shrouded in mystery, filled with encoded meanings, allusions and quotations of other music – both his own and that of others – that are surely not by chance. His 15th and final symphony remains one of the most enigmatic of his works in the genre, endless speculation surrounding its possible meaning – or meanings. Is this a retracing of steps through a life lived hitherto, revisiting old musical friends along the way, or a looking ahead, anticipating the greater darkness to come? Shostakovich's own mutterings at rehearsal about the carefree days of childhood and about the heavy burden of adulthood would appear to be in support of both interpretations, as would the symphony's quoting of Rossini's William Tell, Wagner's Walküre and echoes of Shostakovich's own, earlier works. For certain, though, this is not the tranquil, consoling meditation of Dvořák but a differently private work of dark, probing contemplation, heavily imbued with both irony and profound wisdom, the product of a mind of the greatest genius and the most acute sensibility.