Shostakovich and the BSO
The BSO and Shostakovich have shared a decades-long relationship that continues well past the composer's death. Music Director Serge Koussevitzky was a champion of Dmitri Shostakovich's music in the 1940s, conducting 96 performances of Shostakovich's works with the BSO and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra during his tenure. Later, during the thawing of U.S.-Soviet relations in the late 1950s, Shostakovich visited Symphony Hall while on diplomatic exchange. Finally, North America first learned of Shostakovich's death on August 9, 1975 when guest conductor Mstislav Rostropovich received a call informing him of his friend's passing, and Music Director Seiji Ozawa shared the sad news with the audience in the Tanglewood Shed. Under Andris Nelsons, the BSO has recorded all 15 Shostakovich symphonies on six albums for Deutsche Grammophon, three of which have won Grammy Awards. This year, the BSO celebrates Shostakovich again, with performances of his 6th and 11th Symphonies.
Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, (1906-1975)
Photographer unknown
Early Wartime Performances
Newspaper clippings from March 1942 featuring photos of a young Shostakovich
As one of these articles notes, Serge Koussevitzky was not above programming certain works multiple times in order to ensure audience appreciation. In March 1942, Koussevitzky conducted the work two weeks in a row and then took it on tour, possibly in anticipation of the U.S. live concert premiere of the Seventh Symphony that would take place a few months later at Tanglewood.
Concert program for BSO concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 1942
Serge Koussevitzky conducted Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 in a concert on tour intended to raise relief funds for Russia, which was then under siege by German troops during World War II.
The July 20, 1942 issue of Time featured a portrait of Shostakovich
Shostakovich wrote his seventh symphony in 1941 shortly after the start of the deadly siege of Leningrad during World War II. Serge Koussevitzky and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra gave the first live concert performance in the U.S. on August 14, 1942 at Tanglewood.
Shostakovich Visits Boston
BSO Music Director Charles Munch looks on as Dmitri Shostakovich shakes hands with Fikret Amirov, November 13, 1959
In November 1959, a delegation of Soviet composers including Shostakovich, Amirov, Kabalevsky and Khrennikov visited the U.S. (including Boston) as part of a diplomatic exchange.
Photograph by Ed Fitzgerald
Autographed program for the BSO’s November 13 and 14, 1959 concerts featuring performances of works by members of the Soviet delegation
Soloist Samuel Mayes, and composers Shostakovich, Copland, Amirov, Kabalevsky and Khrennikov autographed this program featuring works by Copland and a delegation of Soviet Composers visiting Boston in 1959.
Gift of Douglas Cohen, 2024
Informational sheet on visiting composer Dmitri Shostakovich compiled by the Committee on Leaders and Specialists, American Council of Education for the composer’s visit to the U.S. in 1959
North America Learns of Shostakovich's Death
BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa and guest conductor Mstislav Rostropovich announce the death of composer Dmitri Shostakovich to the audience at Tanglewood after the concert on August 9, 1975
When the BSO was notified through Rostropovich that Shostakovich had died early that day, Seiji Ozawa announced the sad news to the audience after the orchestra finished performing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
The score for Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, following the BSO performance of the work at Tanglewood on August 9, 1975
Staff at the Boston Symphony learned of the composer’s death shortly before the orchestra performed his Symphony No. 5. Roses were placed on top of the score after the performance in his honor.
Photograph by Heinz Weissenstein (Whitestone Photo)
Transcript of BSO Music Director Seiji Ozawa’s announcement of the death of composer Dmitri Shostakovich, August 9, 1975
The audience was invited to stand and participate in a moment of silence.
Typed transcript of a statement by Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife Galina Vishnevskaya in response to the news of Shostakovich's death on August 9, 1975
Rostropovich was a personal friend of Shostakovich's (the composer dedicated his second cello concerto to the world-renowned cellist and conductor). Rostropovich received the news of the composer's death shortly before he was scheduled to conduct the 5th Symphony at Tanglewood with the BSO.
BSO Statement Dated October 1975 Summarizing Its Response to the News of Shostakovich's Death in August 1975
Shostakovich Recording Project with Andris Nelsons and the BSO
Album cover for 2018 Deutche Grammophon recording of Andris Nelsons and the BSO performing Shostakovich's 4th and 11th Symphonies
The album won the 61st annual Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.
Detail of the 61st Annual Grammy Award for 2018 Best Orchestral Performance
Received by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Andris Nelsons, conductor).
