Symphonies de Chambre Opus 73a et Opus 83a

Description

Founded nearly 80 years ago, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra enjoys a great reputation and has hosted the greatest artists, from Clara Haskil and Alfred Cortot to Murray Perahia and Martha Argerich, from Paul Hindemith to Günter Wand… Despite its long history, the orchestra has had only six music directors, including Armin Jordan from 1973 to 1985. In 2015, the young American conductor Joshua Weilerstein succeeded Christian Zacharias. In addition to his talent and openness to rare repertoires, he has also brought a love for music education… his podcast, “Sticky Notes,” is widely followed and discusses music in an accessible way. This recording is dedicated to Shostakovich's Chamber Symphonies op. 73a and 83a, which are the arrangements by Rudolf Barshai of String Quartets No. 3 and No. 4. Barshai, who was one of the best violists of his time, was a friend of Shostakovich, and their collaboration was long and intense. These arrangements for chamber orchestra of these famous quartets offer a completely different interpretation of the original works and were praised by Shostakovich himself, who reportedly said about one of them that it "sounded better than the original." In addition to the two pieces, Joshua Weilerstein explains his vision of the works in a bonus segment of a few minutes.