This season, the Konzerthaus Berlin has put up some intriguing programs celebrating the 100th birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich. Among these concerts were performances by the Jerusalem Quartet (all string quartets), the Konzerthausorchester (Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and String Orchestra), as well as the Berlin Sinfonietta (Chamber Symphony). In an engaging performance on Thursday night, Alexei Lubimov presented compositions by Galina Ustwolskaja, Sergej Prokofiev, Alexander Skrjabin, Andrej Volkonsky and Shostakovich. Lubimov, who is a multi-facetted performer (he recorded 18th-century music on period instruments as well as works by contemporary composers) combined an impressive technical mastery with a filigrane sound.

The diversified evening started with Galina Ustwolskaja’s Sonata No. 5, a work that was composed in 1986. Throughout the piece a single note is being emphasized by appearing repeately at a high volume. This note is heard in varying contexts and figures, and during the ten movements it either blends in well with the surrounding textures or sticks out like a Fremdkörper. The whole piece seems to be exploring this single note from multiple perspectives. It can thus be seen as a variation on one single note and in that it contrasts nicely with the last piece on the program, Shostakovich’s Sonata No. 2 in B minor, a variation movement on a very long and elaborate theme that oscillates between major and minor tonalities. The program continued with his Five Preludes, early works that were composed around 1920. These delicate miniatures contrasted heavily with Ustvolskaya’s Sonata and the last work in the first half, Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7 in which Lubimov impressively displayed his virtuosity.

In the second part of the concert Lubimov played Skrjabin’s Black Mass Sonata, followed by Andrej Volkonsky’s impressive Musica stricta and Shostakovich’s Sonata No. 2. The third movement of Volkonsky’s piece is a clever experiment in musical omission. Within the third movement the musical lines are interrupted by long pauses in which the listener can fantasize the continuations of the melodies. Here, Lubimov’s carefully reserved and thoughtful playing left enough room for the audience’s own imagination. The melancholic program ended with two encores by Scrjabin: his wonderful op. 74 (originally to be played after the intermission but then replaced by the Black Mass) and, ending on a lighter note, the Poème in F-sharp major.

The fabulous Russian series at the Konzerthaus will be continued on December 2nd when the Studio für Neue Musik Moskau will present a program with works by Mossolov, Rosalwetz, Golysheff, Zhivitov, and Popov. This is going to be a rare treat, spread the word!