Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin, Antoine Tamestit, Mischa Maisky, and the Quatuor Ébène perform Shostakovich

50 years after the death of enigmatic Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the 2025 edition of the Verbier Festival honors his profound legacy with this exceptional chamber concert performed by a legendary lineup — featuring no less than Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin, Mischa Maisky, Antoine Tamestit, and the Ébène Quartet for a program of true chamber music excellence. Four works from different periods of Shostakovich’s career reveal the Soviet composer’s complex relationship with his country, the Soviet regime, and the fraught sociopolitical climate in which he was writing. Composed before his denunciation by the powers that be, his lyrical Cello Sonata in D minor opens the program on a spring-like note. The following works plumb the depths of Shostakovich’s complex emotions, from the hauntingly beautiful Piano Quintet in G minor to the introspective Sonata for Viola and Piano, with light respite in between in the form of the playful Concertino for Two Pianos, which Shostakovich wrote for his son.