Piano Concerto No. 2 (Shostakovich)

102, by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1957 for the 19th birthday of his son Maxim, who premiered the piece on 10 May 1957 during his graduation concert at the Moscow Conservatory.

[2][better source needed] The work is scored for solo piano, two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, timpani, snare drum and strings.

It has been suggested that Shostakovich wanted to pre-empt criticism by deprecating the work himself (having been the victim of official censure numerous times), and that the comment was actually meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

In April 1957, he and his son performed a two piano arrangement of the work for the Ministry of Culture, and then it was later premiered for the public at the Moscow Conservatory.

[1] Maxim's own son, Dmitri Maximovich Shostakovich, also recorded the piece, with his father conducting I Musici de Montreal.