A champion of Shostakovich’s music, CSO Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink leads the Fourth Symphony, a dark and emotionally groundbreaking work. It’s often the case that great art emerges through great suffering. In Shostakovich’s Soviet Union, darkened by the shadow of Stalin, music was essential; it expressed the ideas and feelings of a people that otherwise had no voice. Yet the Fourth Symphony lay dormant, unperformed, for 25 years after its completion. This stunning symphony is now recognized as one of the composer’s boldest and most brilliant scores. The CSO Resound release won the 2008 Grammy Award for best orchestra performance.
Accompanying the audio CD is a bonus DVD of one of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s critically acclaimed Beyond the Score performance featuring a multimedia Shostakovich documentary led by Artistic Programming Advisor Gerard McBurney. The program features newsreels and testimonies, including the words of Shostakovich and his friends. Beyond the Score brings to life not only the music, but also the social and political world from which it emerged.
Bernard Haitink, conductor
I. Allegretto poco moderato – Presto (29:45)
II. Moderato con moto (9:46)
III. Largo – Allegro (31:15)
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This CSO Resound release was underwritten by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Smykal.