Russian powerhouse works open ISO's 2026 Classical Series offerings

Kevin John Edusei first appeared as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's podium guest twice in 2022. It was an unusual kind of double debut for an invited conductor, fueling speculation that he might be on the short list for the ISO's next music director. That turned out to be Jun Märkl, a fellow German who had gone over well for many years as guest conductor here and official adviser near the end of a long interim period.

Kevin John Edusei has triumphed in recent ISO engagements. 

Edusei is back to launch the resumption of the 2025-26 Classical Series this weekend. The program has just two works, representing two of the most popular Russian composers (the other being Tchaikovsky, whom we'll hear from in two weeks): Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor  and Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 in E minor.

On Friday night, Hilbert Circle Theatre welcomed a significant youth contingent to the audience: about 150 members of the concert band and symphony orchestra at Avon High School. The ovation thus took on the shouting acclaim familiar from athletic events upon the dazzling conclusion of the Shostakovich symphony.

The work entered the world not long after the 1953 death of the dictator whose regime made Shostakovich's life (and that of many others) miserable. As with much of Shostakovich's varied output, interpretation of its value often intersects with the effect of the political climate in Soviet Russia from the 1920s on, when Josef Stalin solidified his hold on the vast nation.  

As a result, some of Shostakovich's most buoyant, positive music has often been taken to be ironic, such as the radiant finale of his best-known symphony, the Fifth. You have to set aside that he also had a genuine flair for  trivial and flashy expressions of his skill. The fact that the composer publicly labeled his Fifth as his loyal reply to just criticism from the powers-that-were gives substance to the ironic interpretation, however. 

The Tenth might well have another story to tell, though Cynthia Stacy's typically inviting program note suggests that the turmoil and occasional dejection of the earlier movements holds sway right through to the end. Triumph can be hard to come by in a society practiced in dismissal and even suppression of artistic freedom, as we might be learning in this country. Wariness was a constant in Shostakovich's temperament as his career toggled between acclaim and disdain for several decades.

In this performance, the control and variation of mood was admirably rendered. The first movement makes the clearest statement that Shostakovich's muse was not hell-bent in any particular direction as it cautiously responded to the easing of tyranny after the dictator's death in 1953. The sensitive pacing and emotional tenor of a number of wind solos made that clear Friday night. The swelling of ensemble passages had a uniform shape and intensity. I particularly enjoyed how the piccolo duo that ends the first movement shed balm over the brass and percussion outbursts and the brooding strings that had made such a strong impression earlier. I choose to take the sunniness that emerges in the finale as genuine, and Friday's performance bore this out. 

In the concert's first half, the solidity and fire of Sofya Gulyak's interpretation of the concerto, linked to a sympathetic accompaniment most supportively played by the orchestra, indicated that the Rachmaninoff would be much more than a substantial warm-up to the Shostakovich symphony. Her rendering of the abundant filigree passagework showed a commitment equal to her lyricism and large-scaled power. She was attentive to balancing the pianistic display in all registers. On Friday night, her affinity for the Rachmaninoff manner of personalized romanticism sounded indelible, well-schooled and thoroughly inspired throughout the three movements.