Synphonic Concert

“You who listen, I hope that after today’s performance, as you leave, you will say that ‘life is wonderful’.” With these words, Dmitri Shostakovich introduced the premiere of his Symphony No. 14, composed in 1969 to texts by García Lorca, Apollinaire, Küchelbecker, and Rilke, and dedicated to Britten.

Eleven poems, each one corresponding to a movement of the symphony, form the structure of an atheist Requiem reflecting on the human condition, centered around a single theme: death. Depicted in its starkest essence, death becomes the ultimate end—the very thing that makes us cherish life. Shostakovich expresses this through a stripped-down orchestral texture, achieving strikingly expressive effects despite its austerity.

For the Festival’s traditional symphonic concert, Fabio Luisi leads the Orchestra of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in one of the most original and deeply personal works by the Soviet composer, marking the 50th anniversary of his death in 2025.

_{The Orchestra of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala is supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture (MIC) and SIAE for the artistic professionalization project Young Talents in Concert, as part of the 2024 Per Chi Crea program.}