Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No.2 in F major,

Composer: Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) Work Title: Piano Concerto No.2 in F major, Instrumentation: Piano, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, timpani, snare drum and strings. Performers: Leonard Bernstein (piano), New York Philharmonic (orchestra). 0:00 - I. Allegro 7:09 - II. Andante 13:46 - III. Allegro Piano Concerto No.2 in F major, , by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1957 for his son Maxim’s 19th birthday. Maxim premiered the piece during his graduation at the Moscow Conservatory. It is an uncharacteristically cheerful piece, much more so than most of Shostakovich’s works. The concerto lasts around 20 minutes and has three movements, with the second movement played attacca, thereby moving directly into the third (although the second movement does come to an acceptable resolution in C minor, such that the third movement is not entirely necessary to bring the music to a conclusion