Album

Originally planned as a choral tribute to Lenin, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 was transformed by the siege of Leningrad into a paean to that city's courage in the face of Nazi aggression. Shostakovich simplified his language and expanded his orchestra to give the symphony an unmistakable heroic quality, and this monumentality recommended it for wartime propaganda. Yet under the bravado and martial clichés lies much music of quality, and Shostakovich's identity is not wholly sublimated to patriotic ends. Semyon Bychkov and the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne bring out the subtler sides of this work, and their performance reveals many of the symphony's finer aspects. The Allegretto is the weightiest movement, and despite the banality of its themes, the development provides real tension and the full force of Shostakovich's personality. The nostalgic Moderato is true to Shostakovich's private side, and Bychkov emphasizes the music's fragility through sensitively controlled dynamics. The Adagio has its share of bombast, but an elegiac tone is dominant in this interpretation, making the interruption of the warlike Moderato risoluto almost forgivable. While the Allegro non troppo brings the symphony to a triumphant conclusion, attention should be paid to the ambiguous development section, which is interesting for its apparent admission of doubt in the midst of victory.

© Blair Sanderson, All Music Guide

CD 1
Dmitri Shostakovich Composer Symphony No.7 in C, Op.60 ('Leningrad') Work 1:12:25 WDR Sinfonie Orchester Köln Orchestra, Semyon Bychkov Conductor
1	1.Allegretto	27:13			Album Only
2	2.Moderato (Poco allegretto)	10:37			Album Only
3	3.Adagio	18:04			Album Only
4	4.Allegro non troppo	16:31			Album Only