There is no doubt that the three programs presented by the Ensemble Pygmalion were the sensation of this year’s Adelaide Festival.
Going from that show to Mary said what she said was like going from a Mozart piano concerto to one of the more repetitive pieces by Philip Glass.
The whole work is a testament to Shostakovich’s constant battle with the thought police of the Soviet regime which dogged him throughout his life.
There is no denying the dramatic force of these sonatas, and there is drama in spades in Mustonen’s renderings.