Conflict and Triumph – Inner Emigration IV – Gstaad Festival Orchestra II

Shostakovich ironically described his Fifth Symphony as “the creative response of a Soviet artist to justified criticism”. The symphony was written shortly after the scandal surrounding his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which the Pravda – likely under Stalin’s influence – dismissed as “leftist radical lawlessness” and issued veiled threats: “One plays with hermetics, a game that could end badly.” In the midst of Stalin’s purges, Shostakovich, fearing for his life, was forced to withdraw his Fourth Symphony, which had been too stylistically close to the opera. Instead, in 1937, he composed a more conventional work: his Fifth Symphony. Yet beneath its classical surface, there is a powerful protest against tyranny – a “triumph of art”, and, by extension, a triumph of life itself. Jaap van Zweden and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra will bring energy to these intensely emotional fifty minutes of music, akin to the freshness of Mendelssohn, who was already a brilliant pianist at just fourteen. On August 16, the Jussen brothers, Lucas and Arthur, who are only slightly older, will continue their remarkable journey with another stunning performance, cementing their status as an essential part of the Festival and our hearts.