Andrey Boreyko, the conductor on this album, was born in St. Petersburg and has served as Music Director of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and Principal Guest Conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra SWR.
Historical Context
The opening of the Fifteenth Symphony's Finale with Wagner's 'Announcement of Death' leitmotif is linked to Stalin's 1939 staging of 'Die Walküre' at the Bolshoi Theater, coinciding with the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
Composition History
Dmitry Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony was initially announced by the TASS news agency as a work dedicated to the Soviet victory over the Nazis, with expectations for a grand 'apotheosis' praising Stalin.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Shostakovich deliberately subverted expectations for his Ninth Symphony, presenting a work that ironically broke the heroic tone of Beethoven's 'Eroica' and countered the sublime with mischief and sarcasm.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Shostakovich's use of musical quotes in his Fifteenth Symphony serves as a 'chronicle of his life' and an attempt to 'resist the terror of the obliterated memory' in the Soviet Union, where personal records were destroyed.
Compositional Technique
Shostakovich's Fifteenth Symphony incorporates numerous musical quotes, including from Rossini's 'William Tell Overture,' the B-A-C-H motif, and works by Beethoven and Wagner, alongside references to his own compositions.
Critical Reception
Stalin felt personally attacked by Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony, as he found 'not a trace of the adulation of greatness,' leading to the composer being reprimanded despite receiving the Order of Lenin.
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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 103 "The Year 1905"
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 (Live)
