DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)

 

Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9

 

Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 (1937)

Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70 (1945)

 

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko

 

Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra explore the profound ambivalences of Shostakovich’s most performed symphony, the Fifth, written in 1937 at a time when he was under intense personal and political pressure from the authorities. The jaunty, neo-classical character of the Ninth Symphony (1945) prompted Shostakovich to remark that ‘musicians will like to play it, and critics will delight in blasting it’.

 

Naxos 8572167