Rachmaninoffs Pianoconcert nr. 2 met Nikola Meeuwsen & Sjostakovitsj 5

Nikola Meeuwsen plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2

He came, saw, and conquered: in 2025, at the age of 23, pianist Nikola Meeuwsen became the first Dutchman to win the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Among the accolades on his CV was already the first prize at the Royal Concertgebouw Competition. And last season, Meeuwsen made an impressive debut in the Great Pianists series. Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto , a piece brimming with unforgettable themes and melodies, is one of Meeuwsen's favorite works. Rachmaninoff wrote it after a depression caused by the devastating reception of his First Symphony . With the help of a neurologist, the composer overcame his alcoholism and writer's block.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5

'Mud instead of music,' wrote Pravda in 1936 about an opera by Shostakovich. Such a judgment by the state newspaper in the Soviet Union was tantamount to a death sentence. To appease Stalin, Shostakovich therefore described his Fifth Symphony from a year later as 'the answer of a Soviet artist to justified criticism.' The work immediately became popular, even among the authorities, but always carries a bitter undertone. It is not without reason that Shostakovich wrote many years later about the final movement: 'In the finale it is as if someone hits you with a stick and shouts: "You must be happy," and you march away groaning: "We must be happy, we must be happy." Only a complete idiot would not hear that.'