TRACKLISTING

CD1
Symphony No.4 in C minor, op.43

CD2
Symphony No.5 in D minor, op.47

CD3
Symphony No.6 in B minor, op.54
Symphony No.9 in E flat major, op.70

CD4
Symphony No.7 in C major, op.60 'Leningrad' (Kirov and Rotterdam forces)

CD5
Symphony No.8 in C minor, op.65

RECORDING INFORMATION

Valery Gergiev's spectacular live recordings of Shostakovich's symphonies 4-9 The War Symphonies set to become the definitive modern interpretations of these great symphonies, in a special 5CD set.

Also released - the DVD release of the award winning film - Shostakovich against Stalin - in which the musical world of Russia in the 1930s is illustrated by the Kirov orchestra and Valery Gergiev

Shostakovich's real maturity as a symphonist was achieved against the grim background of the 1930s. From the 4th onwards his symphonies are works of great musical strength but also of great ambiguity, reflecting the composers own delicate position in a world dominated by terror and war.

From the Barbican website -

No composer has ever traced the story of a city – personal, political, psychological – so acutely as the radical young Shostakovich did for Leningrad under Stalin. To hear the symphonies performed by Valery Gergiev –someone immersed in the Leningrad/St Petersburg tradition–will be a rare privilege.

This Shostakovich cycle, representing a lifetime of embattled creativity and bruising experience, promises to be the highlight of the season.