Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow
In 2015, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) announced a new recording partnership. The first project, entitled Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow, focuses on works composed during the period of Dmitri Shostakovich's difficult relationship with Stalin and the Soviet regime — starting with his fall from favor in the mid-1930s and the composition and highly acclaimed premiere of his Fifth Symphony, through the premiere of the composer's Tenth Symphony, purportedly written as a response to Stalin's death in 1953.
Special thanks to Lloyd Axelrod, M.D. for his support of the Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow recording project.
(Roger & Renate Rössing)
Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich during his 1959 visit to Boston. (Arthur Burkhard)
Dmitri Shostakovich (b. 1906 - d. 1975)
Russian born BSO violinist Victor Manusevitch (1944-1970) converses with Dmitri Shostakovich at Symphony Hall, November 1959. (Ed Fitzgerald)
Shostakovich's symphonies have figured in the BSO's repertoire on frequent occasions since the BSO's initial performances of the composer's Symphony No. 1 in November 1935. The online exhibit features a selection of documents preserved in the BSO Archives pertaining to early BSO performances of each of the works being recorded by the BSO and DG. For each work, a link is provided that enables you to explore the BSO's entire performance history of that work in HENRY (the BSO's performance history search engine). You can also access relevant concert reviews, photographs, program notes, audio and visual files, and other documents. As an adjunct, materials relating to the 1959 visit to Boston by a delegation of Soviet composers led by Shostakovich are included.
Andris Nelsons on Shostakovich and His Music
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons sat down with Harlow Robinson at Symphony Hall to talk about the music of Shostakovich, in connection with the Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow recordings released in collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon.
Read the interview
Andris Nelsons on Shostakovich and His Music
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons sat down with Harlow Robinson at Symphony Hall to talk about the music of Shostakovich, in connection with the Shostakovich: Under Stalin's Shadow recordings released in collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon.
Read the interview
Symphony No. 10
The first BSO performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony was given on Friday, October 19, 1962, with a subsequent performance on Saturday, October 20, 1962. Both performances were conducted by Erich Leinsdorf at Symphony Hall.
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
The Orchestra Suite from Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, was first performed by the BSO at Symphony Hall on Thursday, January 4, 1996, as part of the 115th season.
