Elusive and Disguised Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony - impresses GERALD FENECH 'A strong competitor for the disc of the year ...'

Shostakovich's Fourth had a turbulent history. Composed in practical unison with the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsenk District during the mid 1930s, the Symphony had to be shelved after Stalin's edict of 'chaos instead of music' directed at the opera which almost cost the composer his life. The piece languished in oblivion for twenty-six years (1935-1961), then Kirill Kondrashin in the Soviet Union and Eugene Ormandy in the States brought it in from the cold, and although performances today are still on the lean side, the symphony is regarded by critics and musicians alike as Shostakovich's coming of age...

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

VASILY PETRENKO

ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

NAXOS

RUSSIA

ENGLAND

LIVERPOOL

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC