Johanna Malangré Conducts Shostakovich's 14th Symphony at the HIDALGO FESTIVAL

“It's serious, Shostakovich is serious too, and the orchestra under Malangré also takes music wonderfully seriously. So it starts gently, so fragile, so translucent the violins.” - Süddeutsche Zeitung (September 2021)

Watch Johanna Malangré here

On 10th and 12th September, Johanna Malangré conducted Shostakovich's 14th Symphony at the HIDALGO Festival. Malangré explains why classical music and environmental activism belong together in her interview with Annemarie Lehmbruck below.

Johanna, how does Shostakovich's 14th Symphony fit the festival theme "R * Evolution"?

Shostakovich is a composer whose DNA is revolutionary. He wants to break boundaries in all of his plays, to rebel against injustices and against the system, in his case the communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union. Each of his symphonies is a response to what was happening politically in the country and how it affected the people. In the 14th Symphony, Shostakovich particularly defends himself against the injustice of death.

So how is this work political?

It is a work of art that expresses an attitude. It is not journalistic documentation that reports injustices. Rather, the music expresses an inner state that ideally occupies the listener internally. And maybe that influences some so much that this art experience is later expressed in deeds and actions - that it changes people's behavior.

What does the 14th Symphony have to do with “ecological sustainability”?

In 1969, the composer was certainly interested in something different: he was inspired by Modest Mussorgsky's “Songs and Dances of Death” and Benjamin Britten's “War Requiem”, who used it to deal with the horrors of World War II. He rebels against the violent death that people suffer, be it through oppression, arbitrariness or war. At HIDALGO, we relate it to climate change, to our dealings with our environment, now and in our present day. The piece is black and pessimistic - and not a bit forgiving. There is no such thing as “everything will be fine in the end”. The music says we have to remain dissatisfied. That's where we dock.

Do I have to prepare for the concert to understand it? Read books about the composer, listen to other works?

No. This 14th symphony is incredibly direct, so you don't need any prior intellectual knowledge. The music immediately carries us away.

Why?

Because Shostakovich is an incredibly good composer - it's that simple. How broad and soft he uses the strings that play the surface. How carefully he uses the percussions, which give the work a vertical framework.

The 14th symphony is occupied by strings and percussion, with a soprano and a bass. It's an unusual line-up ...

... and a very exciting one, also for me as a conductor. The contrast between high and low voices is phenomenal!

But the music is also very uncomfortable, right?

Yes, there are never comfortable concerts at HIDALGO. You don't always have to have fun, there can also be a beauty in the depth, serious and very personal of the music. That is what we are always looking for: this raw, honest, unvarnished. It's in all of our programs - and that's what our audience appreciates. If you're looking for real, true music, you've come to the right place.