Belgian National Orchestra, Feddeck & Aimard

Two towering works confront darkness head-on. With his Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, Mozart composed one of his most intriguing and forward-looking creations. One of only two piano concertos in a minor key, it is also the most symphonic of them all. The tone is tense and shadowed, yet brilliantly conceived. Pierre-Laurent Aimard, internationally acclaimed for his advocacy of contemporary music and equally revered as a Mozart interpreter, returns here to familiar territory. Mozart, Aimard says, is a “delightful being”: curious, playful and endlessly rich. In this concerto, Aimard brings that complexity to life with clarity, restrained intensity and an impeccable sense of form. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony reveals the other side of the coin. Celebrated as an unprecedented triumph at its premiere, the work appears on the surface to conform to Soviet expectations, while concealing a deeply personal testimony beneath. Under Stalin’s terror, Shostakovich transformed fear, loss and grief into a symphony that is both public and private. The deeply moving third movement reportedly moved audiences to tears at early performances. To this day, the work has lost none of its force: it remains a powerful testament to moral resilience and emotional truth. Under the direction of James Feddeck, the tension grips the listener until the final, searing release.