Music of Consequence: Wagner, Ravel and Shostakovich

Few pieces demonstrate the effects of war more starkly than Ravel’s Piano Concerto in D major, written for the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm in World War I. This extraordinary work will be performed by award-winning French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, a renowned exponent of Ravel’s music who makes his Kirklees début alongside conductor Christoph Altstaedt.

Sandwiching the concerto are Shostakovich’s 15th and final symphony, and Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde. Shostakovich’s 15th is a profound piece where nothing is quite as it seems. Quotations from other musical works litter the symphony, none more poignantly than the leitmotif from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.

Talking Music starts at 6.40pm (free).