Proms at … Cadogan Hall: PCM 5

‘Our family discussed the Revolution of 1905 constantly ... The stories deeply affected my imagination.’ Born in the shadow of one of Russia’s darkest hours – the slaughter of over 1,000 peaceful protesters outside the Winter Palace in St Petersburg – Shostakovich carried its ghosts with him throughout his life. They are given voice here in a concert that brings together the wordless songs of the composer’s Preludes and Fugues with the more explicit homage of the Ten Poems on Texts by Revolutionary Poets. In the last of its three appearances this season, the Latvian Radio Choir is joined by Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov.