This album marks the culmination of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s decade-long, Grammy-winning Shostakovich cycle and is released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. It showcases Yuja Wang’s performances with the BSO under the baton of its Music Director Andris Nelsons of Shostakovich’s two contrasting piano concertos – No. 1 in C minor and No. 2 in F major. Originally conceived as a trumpet concerto, Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor was eventually expanded by the composer into a double concerto for piano and trumpet, accompanied by a string orchestra. This unusual instrumentation, combined with Shostakovich’s characteristic humor and penchant for musical parody – here including sly references to Beethoven, Haydn, and even popular tunes – results in a work both virtuosic and playfully subversive. BSO principal Thomas Rolfs is Yuja Wang’s partner in this performance. Also included are six of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues for solo piano, offering a more intimate glimpse into his pianistic world.