• Sunday 29 August 2010 8pm
• BRIDPORT Electric Palace Theatre (Map)
• CANCELLED Shostakovich - The Joker in the Pack
• Unfortunately this event has been cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment caused.

A concert introducing the spontaneous and playful side of Shostakovich‘s musical personality.

High-relief irony and humour are the hallmarks of Shostakovich‘s lighter works – an exceptional composer laughing in the face of adversity.

As a prominent Soviet artist and musical chronicler of his times, Shostakovich‘s career was consistently thwarted by bureaucracy - and his life and freedom threatened - during Stalin‘s ‘Great Purge‘ in the years immediately preceding the Second World War. His music was banned twice, and raw humour served as a necessary antidote and release to this pressure.

Join actor John Telfer (Bergerac, The Archers), the Bristol Ensemble, artists Laura Cramer and Rapolas Jukavicius in a showcase written and narrated by David Adams of the enthralling energy, exuberance and playfulness of the lighter side of this master musical shape-shifter.

The event will include artistic projections by Laura and Rapolas, and poems from the period. Music will include excerpts from Shostakovich‘s theatre scores, movements from the effervescent Jazz Suite, Tahiti Trot (Tea for Two) and the waltz from Stanley Kubrick‘s Eyes Wide Shut.

Tickets £15.50 (Friends £12.50) from Bridport Tourist Information Centre on 01308 424901. Doors open 7.15pm.

Click here to watch the video of this concert at St George‘s Bristol.