Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major

Composed during the political thaw that followed Stalin’s death in 1953, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (1957) is one of his most gloriously uncomplicated works. Written for his son Maxim, who went on to become a distinguished conductor of his father’s music, the work is—unusually for its composer—entirely free of sardonic musical subtext. For once, such light-hearted gestures as the soloist’s occasional flurry of five-finger exercises can be taken at face value. Even the opening piano unisons and central Andante “slow” movement are genuinely affectionate tributes to Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto rather than ironic swipes. Maxim, a former prodigy pianist, duly gave the premiere on his 19th birthday (May 10, 1957) to rapturous applause. Given how understandably nervous Shostakovich had become regarding making any comments about his music, his assessment of the concerto in a letter to fellow composer Edison Denisov as having “no redeeming artistic merits” can be taken with a pinch of salt.