Armed with his Venetian cello Matteo Goffriller 'Ex-Rose-Ex-Piatti' from 1693, German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich enters for Shostakovich's Second cello concerto.

Imagine for a moment: the work had its premiere in 1966 with none other than Mstislav Rostropovich and conductor Yevgeny Svetlanov, on the composer's 60th birthday. If Shostakovich intended it to represent his life story up to that point, he evoked an introverted person, still waters with deep grounds. In other words, the protagonist balances between hope and fear in a probing story without words. Tchaikovsky also seeks mystery and double meanings. He composed hisPathétiqueon the basis of a plan "that had to remain secret from everyone. The ingredients: impulsive passion, a Russian requiem, theatricality, unconcealed neuroses, fears and despair. The symphony ends resignedly. The elusive Tchaikovsky was satisfied: 'I consider it the best and most frank work of my oeuvre.'