IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), which triggered the Romantic outbursts of the 18th century, was a short-lived but far-reaching artistic movement. Its style, which emphasised the pain of creation and the anguish of existence, fascinated authors in particular, but composers also harnessed its power to convey emotion. The most famous of them was Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 52 in C minor is both poignant and agitated.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s irreverent attitude towards the powers that be only became fully apparent after his death. This symphony, written in 1953, was supposed to be a tribute to the memory of the recently deceased dictator, but it is the ghost of a tyrant who speaks – a terror saturated with bitterness, despair and inextinguishable hatred.

The conductor and violinist John Storgårds again plays a double role; he also performs the wistful violin solos in Keith Jarrett’s Elegy, written in memory of his grandmother.