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Shostakovich: Symphony No 5 – LSO Live

Shostakovich: Symphony No 5 [download]

  • Catalogue Number LSO0550
    UPC 822231105022

    James Mallinson producer
    Jonathan Stokes for Classic Sound Ltd balance engineers

    Recorded July 2004, Barbican, London

    DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording
    Notes in English / en français / auf Deutsch

  • ***** 'Rostropovich captures the stark ambivalence of the music - its gut-wrenching menace on the one hand, and stark attractiveness on the other. The playing is top-notch, and quite terrifying at all the right moments.'
    The Scotsman

    *****
    The Independent

    'Rostropovich breathes this music as if it were oxygen ... he brings it chillingly to life.'
    BBC Radio 3 CD Review

    'In this towering performance by the LSO under [Rostropovich], Shostakovich comes across as a thoroughgoing modernist, agonised about the issues of the day, but pouring his angst into a huge, multifaceted work which flows with the heat of volcanic lava. One of the last remaining links with this titanic composer, the great cellist-conductor can lay rightful claim to being his outstanding living interpreter.'
    The Observer

    '[Rostropovich’s] strength is in his ability to inspire players. There's nothing routine about this performance: Rostropovich generates a fierce intensity [and] the LSO's response is consistently impressive.'
    Classic FM Magazine

£7.99

Mstislav Rostropovich, London Symphony Orchestra


Few works stir up as much debate over their 'meaning' as Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. And equally few works can boast an interpreter with such insight as Mstislav Rostropovich. His friendship with the composer gave him an almost unique understanding of Shostakovich's inner traumas, and as with the 2002's outstandingly successful LSO Live recording of the Symphony No 11, he inspired the LSO's players to the heights of virtuosity.


Composer   Shostakovich
Conductor   Mstislav Rostropovich
Performers   London Symphony Orchestra

Track list
1. Symphony No 5 in D minor: I. Moderato
2. Symphony No 5 in D minor: II. Allegretto
3. Symphony No 5 in D minor: III. Largo
4. Symphony No 5 in D minor: IV. Allegro non troppo

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