Why does some music grab people to the point of ecstasy and to others it represents a total blank? Can you grow to love a composer you feel no connection to? Mahan Esfahani attempts to learn to love the music of Shostakovich with the help of conductor Kirill Karabits.

Dimitri Shostakovich was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who died in 1975. One of the major composers of the 20th century, his work bridged the gap between Romanticism and post-tonality. His sharp contrasts and harmonic developments from the Romantic era towards tonal ambiguity are impressively showcased across his thirteen symphonies.

But to Mahan, Shostakovich’s music is drenched in unnecessary sarcasm and a moral murkiness. Was he a supporter or dissident towards the Soviet Union? How can he have written music from two opposing viewpoints? Does his popularity rest on this enigma rather than any musical merit?

Joining Mahan in the studio to help spark a connection is the conductor Kirill Karabits. Born in Kiev when it was part of the Soviet Union, he repeatedly listened to Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony as a young boy and it was this that made him dream of becoming a conductor. Kirill has been chief conductor for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for the past 13 years and has several celebrated recordings of Shostakovich’s symphonies in his discography.

Produced by Rebecca Gaskell
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3 Show less