2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri “Mitya” Shostakovich. MITO SettembreMusica celebrates the master with performances of some of his best-known and lesser-known compositions. His fifteen symphonies, flaunting a stylistic range that spans neoclassical and modern experimentation, are among the most significant works of 20th-century music. Shaped by his complicated relationship with the Soviet regime, they are characterized by the tension between tradition and innovation. They also reflect personal dramas, political struggles, and a sense of bitter irony.

The festival opens with Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, followed by Symphony No. 9, while the closing performance features Symphony No. 13, a work rarely performed in Italy. A special place is reserved for Symphony No. 10 – a powerful and intense piece composed immediately after Stalin’s death – which will be presented alongside the film Oh To Believe in Another World by South African artist William Kentridge.

The program also includes several chamber music compositions, a “private space” through which Shostakovich’s creative voice was able to express itself without the overbearing constraints imposed by the rigid standards of Soviet aesthetics. Among these is a complete performance of his string quartets by the four young musicians of the Eliot Quartet from Frankfurt – a testament to the composer’s stylistic evolution and his most freely expressed artistic voice.

Complementing Shostakovich’s works, this year’s festival also features music by some of his contemporaries – Russians and non-Russians – many of whom developed their voices within the complex and troubled Soviet universe. They include the Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg, one of the most important and underrated composers of the 20th century; Georgian composer Giya Kancheli, whose personal style blends minimalism with traditional Georgian music; and Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, whose works arise from protracted reflections on nostalgia, memory and time.