Shostakovich - Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67 Composed in 1943-1944; premiered in 1944 in Leningrad Performed by Derek Han (1957-2021), piano; Ani Kavafian (b. 1948), violin; and Peter Wiley (b. 1955), cello Recorded July 2006 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, California 0:00 I. Andante – Moderato 7:36 II. Allegro con brio 10:42 III. Largo 15:20 IV. Allegretto – Adagio Shostakovich composed his Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67, between late 1943 and early 1944, shaken by the compounding tragedies of World War II and the death of his close friend, the musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky (1902-1944). Dedicated to Sollertinsky's memory, the work stands as one of the composer's most moving statements. Its finale, which incorporates a Jewish dance theme, reflects the horrors of the Holocaust and the atrocities of the Eastern Front.