International Concert Series 2025-26

For the 50th anniversary of Dmitry Shostakovich's death, musicologist and pianist Richard Moukarzel proposes a lecture-recital dedicated to this emblematic figure of 20th-century music. Alongside works by his most famous Soviet contemporaries, Sergei Prokofiev and Aram Khachaturian, this concert explores the vibrant legacy of Shostakovich's modernism, as well as the complex dynamics of music, power, and ideology.

Event programme

Aram Khachaturian (1903 - 1978): Waltz from Masquerade Suite op. 48a
Dimitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Prelude & Fugue in C major op. 87 n.1
Dimitri Shostakovich: Prelude & Fugue in F# minor op. 87 n.8
Dimitri Shostakovich: Prelude & Fugue in Eb minor op. 87 n. 14
Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Visions Fugitives op. 22 (Excerpts)
Dimitri Shostakovich: Prelude in Db major op. 87 n.15

About the performers

Dr Richard Moukarzel (Mecarsel) is a Lebanese-French musicologist and pianist born in 1994. Graduated in piano performance (specialising in music theory and analysis) at the National Lebanese Conservatory), his interests range from musical theory to literature, critical theory, neo-Riemannian analysis, semiotics, philosophy and aesthetics. He holds a PhD in Music from Royal Holloway University of London, with a thesis entitled ‘The emancipated Wagnerite: Semiotics, Spectatorship, and musico-dramatic Verfremdung in the Ring Cycle‘ (written under the supervision of Prof. Mark Berry and Prof. Julian Johnson).

Richard is currently an academic tutor at the University of Oxford (Keble, Hertford, Oriel, St John’s, and St Peter’s Colleges). He actively publishes articles in musicological journals and is a regular contributor in The Wagner Journal and Wagner Notes (New York Wagner society), reviewing opera performances across the UK and Europe. He also regularly gives conference talks and lecture-recitals in the UK, Lebanon, and the USA.