Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60

Featuring

Paavo Järvi
Russian National Orchestra
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Moscow, Russia, in February 2014.

Composer Biography

Dmitri Shostakovich, the composer, was declared a 'persona non grata' in 1936 after the article 'Chaos in Music' was published at Stalin's behest, causing him to fear for his life.

Performer Biography

Paavo Järvi, the conductor, was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia in 2013 for his outstanding contribution to Estonian Culture.

Performer Biography

The Russian National Orchestra, founded in 1990, was the first Russian orchestra to win a Grammy Award in 2004 for their recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Beintus's Wolf Tracks.

Critical Reception

Sergei Rachmaninoff, after hearing the American premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 over the radio, famously quipped, 'Well fine, and now let's have a cup of tea,' indicating a mixed reception.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Shostakovich intended his Symphony No. 7 as a 'requiem for all those who had died, for all those who had been tortured,' and a protest against the 'terrible machinery of destruction,' not just a depiction of military action.

Composition History

Shostakovich began composing his Symphony No. 7, known as the 'Leningrad Symphony,' in July 1941 in Leningrad, completing the first three movements under constant enemy attack.