cdxciv. BATES, Michael
from: Acrobat: Music for, and by, Dmitri Shostakovich
I bought this CD because it had Shostakovich in the title. I reproduce Michael's liner notes in full, because he said it as well as it can be said:
"Few can listen to the musical spectacle of Dmitri Shostakovich and expect to forget it. In his world everything is a paradox. The grotesque mixing with elegance and dissonance, anger and humor, serenity and sarcasm. It is often vicious or quietly raging music that to my ears, contains beauty, poise and compassion, as if he had some kind of insight into the listener's deepest (and possibly, darkest) thoughts. But, because Shostakovich was a man full of mysteries who could say something one day and discount it the next and because nearly everything he did was so laced with sarcasm, it is entirely possible that nothing is how it seems. So it's no surprise that 36 years after his death what we know of his personal life and public persona remain great sources of debate.
One doesn't have to look for to find out why. It's easy to find many stories of just how dangerous it was to be a Russian composer in the age of Stalin. [or a filmmaker in the age of Putin -- LS] How Shostakovich managed to compose and show such creative tenacity under these circumstances is an inspiration and his music leaves an imprint that few others have.
So with gratitude, this is a set composed with these thoughts in mind, and an improviser's take on some of his themes. I take full responsibility for any and all transgressions."
**
This gloomy track is full of mysteries that DSCH would have loved! The playing is superb all around. Dmitri would have loved it.
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