Clara Iannotta, Dmitri Chostakovich, Franz Schubert

At the end of the 2010s, Clara Iannotta experienced, after long periods of treatment, a feeling of wandering, or abandonment, similar to the "vast empty skies" we encounter in Dorothy Molloy's poem My heart lives in my chest, and which was the inspiration behind Clara Iannotta's piece strange bird – no longer navigating by a star. “I didn’t know who I was. What had become of my music?" Loss, and birds flying aimlessly, unable to land, bear witness to her attempts to express this form of existence. Composed in 1966, during a stay in the Crimea, and dedicated to Rostropovich, who contributed to the writing of the cadenzas, the Concerto for cello and orchestra no. 2 also reflects a moment of crisis and change in Shostakovich's style, which in fact resulted in him in rewriting the finale. The story of Schubert's The Great, which the composer never heard in concert, intersects with the greatest names in 19th century music, namely Beethoven, whose influence is evident here, and Schumann, who had in his hands the manuscript of the work and transmitted it to Mendelssohn. The latter was then responsible for its premiere, in Leipzig, eleven years after the death of the Viennese master.

Interview with Clara Iannotta