A brace of massive orchestral works written 60 years and a few hundred kilometres apart and reflecting the stark cultural and social differences between Tsarist Russia and Stalin’s Soviet Union are featured in Donald Runnicles’ latest tour as Sydney Symphony’s Principal Guest Conductor.   

The performance of Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto in the first half sees the much-anticipated return of Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos, who last appeared with the SSO in 1998.

Leonidas Kavakos, Donald Runnicles and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Introducing the work, Runnicles says it is rarely performed “mainly because it is so difficult to play”.

Kavakos brings all his innate artistry and intelligence to bear in the slow, quiet nocturnal opening movement. Each note, each tone on his rich-voiced Stradivarius 1734 Willemotte – built when the luthier was 90 years old! – is carefully placed over the weaving harmonics of two harps, Matthew Wilkie’s bassoon and the quietly insistent basses, making for a spellbinding unfolding much like a ruminative Shakespearean soliloquy.

Shostakovich wrote the concerto for the great violinist David Oistrakh whose famous long singing lines inspired both the Nocturne – no virtuoso embellishments,...