Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley have released their new album Troika on the Pentatone Oxingale series, « to explore music of the Slavic soul ». Yet, Haimovitz says: « Inspired by the subversive irony of Shostakovich’s Sonata, Ttroika also delves into more recently-written, unexpected, and popular works. Whether subtle or blatantly rebellious, each work potently reveals the strength of the artistic voice in the face of political repression in mother Russia. »
Among those protest-pieces is the Pussy Riot song ‘Punk Prayer,’ the song for which the Russian trio was arrested, imprisoned, and subsequently one of them was murdered.
The protest is not only in the music, it is also in the booklet layout with the painting « Make Everything Great Again » by Dominykas Ceckaukas and Mindaugas Bonanu which is originally a mural image depicting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin kissing on the wall of a BBQ restaurant in Vilnius/ Lithuania.
