Ignat Solzhenitsyn, conductor
National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia
Concert Video of Schubert "Great" Symphony
Video from Shostakovich Livestream
The Michelangelo Suite below, the Viola Sonata further down.
On Mendelssohn, Dostoevsky, and Suffering
After a recent lecture at Benedictine College, I was asked an intriguing question about the connection between suffering and art—is there a correlation?
See the full event here.
Moderating for the Common Sense Society
I enjoyed attending the Common Sense Society conference a few weeks ago in Palm Beach, where I heard several thoughtful speakers and moderated a discussion with Dr Jordan Peterson that touched on weight topics like art, equality, death, and transcendence. It was carried live by C-SPAN.
Live Not By Lies
In June of last year, English rock star Winston Marshall caused a sensation—by leaving his band, Mumford and Sons, but also by his impassioned and eloquent letter explaining his decision. I found it moving to read it and to learn how much he was sustained by my father’s timeless essay, “Live Not by Lies”.
I was pleased and honored to be Winston’s first guest on his new podcast at the Spectator. We touched on several trends in Western culture, including a growing intolerance of free speech. Video below.
Shostakovich's Last Word
As he lay dying in August 1975, Shostakovich completed his final work, a deeply personal summation of his entire creative life (obliquely referencing each of this fifteen symphonies)—the Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147. I will be playing this, one of my very favorite Shostakovich works, several times this season with both Timothy Ridoud in the UK and Hsin-Yun Huang in the US. Below is a live performance of the 2nd movement for WQXR here in New York.
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano, play the second movement of Shostakovich's Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, in the WQXR studio.
VIRTUAL PHILADELPHIA CONCERT
Here is some Scarlatti, Haydn and Debussy recently presented on the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia “Musical Jukebox” series.
Chamber Orchestra Conductor Laureate Ignat Solzhenitsyn talks with us about Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ with a performance of the final words for solo piano. He also performs the virtuosic music of Scarlatti and the colorful, imagistic "Poissons d'or" of Claude Debussy.
Tempi in Mozart Finales
A recent group of seminars I gave at the Curtis Institute focused on character, style and tempo in Mozart. Here is a session that might be of particular interest, dealing in specific detail with the problems of tempo in Mozart finales.
Prof. Ignat Solzhenitsyn | Tempo in Mozart’s Finales
Teaching Shostakovich
Recently I was asked by my distinguished colleague Ieva Jokubaviciute to lead a group of Duke University students (both graduate and undergraduate) through the fascinating Preludes, Op. 34 cycle of Shostakovich (not to be confused with his later Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87). Here below are videos of this masterclass, then their group performance a few weeks later, and finally my own recent performance on the E-flat major prelude, Op. 34, No. 19.
5 April 2021 | Solzhenitsyn teaches Shostakovich masterclass at Duke
Duke University students performing the complete Shostakovich Preludes, Op. 34 (1933)
Ignat Solzhenitsyn | Shostakovich Prelude in E-flat major, Op. 34, No. 19
Performing and Discussing Prokofiev
Below, my recent livestream premiere of Prokofiev Sonatas 7 & 8 from DaCamera in Houston, and a post-concert discussion with my wonderful colleague and presenter Sarah Rothenberg.