Russian Dolls

In Glazunov’s composition, the cello—played by the up-and-coming internationally renowned soloist Bryan Cheng—sings like a melancholic minstrel of courtly romance in the Middle Ages. Then, with Rococo Variations, the instrument becomes a chameleon, changing its voice with utmost virtuosity to develop Tchaikovsky’s theme, inspired by 18th-century music. Then it’s time for Shostakovich to take us back in time with Symphony No. 11, a piece led by one of the most important conductors of his generation, Louis Langrée. The composer tells the story of Bloody Sunday in 1905, when tsarist soldiers violently repressed an initial attempt at a revolution by firing upon a hungry crowd gathered outside the Winter Palace.