Our Shostakovich concerts in Berlin 2025

It was clear that Dmitri Shostakovich had a bright future ahead of him at the latest with his Symphony No. 1 in F minor, which brought the then 19-year-old world fame. He has retained this fame ever since. You can hear the reason for this in the Shostakovich concerts of our 4 top ensembles, which are performed for you in Berlin's great venues.

Shostakovich concerts by the ROC in Berlin

With his work, Shostakovich succeeded in becoming a true biographer of Russian history despite the constant fear of death and censorship under Stalin. However, his compositions go far beyond the confrontation with Stalinism - his incredibly diverse oeuvre resembles an “apocalyptic soundtrack to the 20th century”, as Gottfried Blumenstein once described it.

Shostakovich's symphonies - satire, mirror of fear and tightrope act

Shostakovich composed 15 symphonies in his lifetime; they form a central field of his work and reveal his biography and the political situation in the Soviet Union like no other genre he used. Marches, waltzes and hymns are imbued with a great deal of irony and sarcasm, making it difficult to tell whether and when his works are mocking or serious. This was the only way in which Shostakovich could manage the tightrope act of composing simultaneously for and against a totalitarian regime. His compositions are clever, profound and disturbing to the point of overflowing into comedy.
Shostakovich often quotes other artists such as Bach, Mahler and Beethoven, but it is always clear who is leading the pen here. Shostakovich thus succeeded in creating a unique oeuvre which, thanks to his compositional brilliance and the absorption of the times in which he lived, contains an incomprehensible tension that still shakes, disturbs and inspires today.

In Berlin, the ROC ensembles will perform Shostakovich concerts for you, bringing this musical venture, which Shostakovich's music still is, to life in a completely new way.