Chamber Music Matinee

In this concert, the "masterpieces of chamber music", the theme of this season's chamber music matinees, are by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Dmitri Shostakovich. It is a special combination, as Mendelssohn's second piano trio and Shostakovich's eighth string quartet share the key of C minor, which can symbolise pain and longing, but also darkness. At the same time, a striving towards the variation key of C major, which is often associated with stability and strength, is recognisable in both works.
The different treatment of these keys is unmistakable. In Mendelssohn's piano trio, an enormous range can be experienced, from the character of a song without words to references to his "Summer Night Room". The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, on the other hand, gave his eighth string quartet, which today bears the title "In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War", the idea of writing a work "dedicated to my memory" As this year marks the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich's death, his Opus 110 should be performed now in particular. At the same time, the full sound spectrum of the key of C minor can be experienced in this matinee in conjunction with Mendelssohn's second piano trio and with musicians from the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

Translated with DeepL.com