Shostakovich Symphony 10

Mariss Jansons considers Dmitri Shostakovich to be one of the most serious and sincere composers ever, and finds the fifteen symphonies in particular to be deeply moving and captivating. He sees their music as bearing shattering testimony to a traumatic era of political darkness, while remaining a timeless expression of existential human feeling and experience. Over a period of seventeen years, Mariss Jansons has recorded all the Shostakovich symphonies, on each occasion together with the orchestra he was artistically associated with at the time. Six of the performances were with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Kurt Sanderling (1912–2011), born in Prussia, fled Germany for the USSR on the invitation of his Jewish relatives living there, to seek artistic and personal refuge from the Nazi regime.

The first Album by the philharmonie zuidnederland was of works by Wagner and Tchaikovksy, under their chief conductor Dmitri Liss; this second album promises to be even more spectacular. The principal work, Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, caused rapturous enthusiasm in a previous live performance and is very close to Liss’ own heart. Liss tells of the symphony’s première shortly after the death of Stalin in 1953: “In those days, it was extremely hazardous to reveal too much of yourself in a piece of music. Shostakovich was able to manage it and for that he has my lasting and increasing admiration. I come closer to the music’s heart each time I conduct this symphony”. The CD also includes an energetic live performance of Olga Victorova’s Quinlong Azure Dragon. This work too is close to Liss’ heart, as is the composer herself – Victorova is his wife. One more reason for philharmonie zuidnederland to pull out all the stops as they perform this work about a renowned Oriental dragon as well as Shostakovich’s masterpiece with passion and fire.

“It is an amazing psychological drama” – that is how Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, describes Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony. The Ninth and Tenth also vividly reflect Shostakovich’s struggle with the Stalinist regime – and his self-assertion. Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings is now releasing the recordings of Symphonies 8–10 as the orchestra’s second major hardcover edition with Kirill Petrenko.

John Storgards's acclaimed series of Shostakovich symphonies continues with this recording of Symphony No. 13. The BBC Philharmonic is joined by the bass-baritone Albert Dohmen and the Estonian National Male Choir. The symphony, subtitled 'Babiy Yar', caused a great deal of tension and controversy in the lead-up to its premiere, in December 1962 - not because of the music, but the poetry.