The Stradivari Ensemble of the Mariinsky Theatre plays on instruments by Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri, with the centerpiece of the evening being Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 featuring a trumpet part. Britten will add clarity and drive with his "Simple Symphony," while Bartók contributes a lively divertimento for strings. There is a rare pleasure in hearing a string ensemble that embodies the very history of the workshops of the 17th and 18th centuries. This evening, the Stradivari Ensemble of the Mariinsky Theatre takes the stage with instruments by Niccolò Amati, Antonio Stradivari, Giuseppe Guarneri, Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, and Matteo Goffriller. Each of these voices is recognizable by its timbre and response to the bow, making familiar scores feel sharper. The program opens with Benjamin Britten's "Simple Symphony." This is music with a clear pattern and lively movement, where the strings can be both playfully sharp and lyrical. Next is Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 with orchestra, Op. 35: tense twists, grotesque flashes, subtle irony, and instant mood shifts. The soloist is Vladimir Vishnevsky, and the trumpet part by Timur Martynov is an important participant in the dialogue, both shading and pushing the drama forward. The finale is Bartók's divertimento for string orchestra. Here, the ensemble's work as a unified organism is particularly evident: resilient rhythm, precise call-and-response between groups, dense unisons, and transparent, almost fragile episodes. Soloist and conductor Lorenz Nasturika-Gershovich weaves these contrasts into a cohesive line, where energy is maintained through details. To find out where to go in St. Petersburg, you can visit our website.