Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 (2013/2015) [Hi-Res]

Completed in 1936 but withdrawn during rehearsal and not performed until 1961, the searing Fourth Symphony finds Shostakovich stretching his musical idiom to the limit in the search for a personal means of expression at a time of undoubted personal and professional crisis. The opening movement, a complex and unpredictable take on sonata form that teems with a dazzling profusion of varied motifs, is followed by a short, eerie central movement. The finale opens with a funeral march leading to a climax of seismic physical force that gives way to a bleak and harrowing minor key coda. The Symphony has since become one of the most highly regarded of the composer’s large-scale works.

„I would urge you to get this newest take on one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century. If you don't know it, give it lots of hearings and lots of time. It's a tough one, and a bit scary in places. Gradually the links will become apparent and all the bits will cohere in your mind. This was a total genius at work. One day the Fourth Symphony will be acknowledged as the complete masterpiece that it is. Petrenko's interpretation and performance can only help. I've played it a dozen times in the past fortnight.“ (Michael Tumelty, Herald Scotland)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Recorded at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, England, on 9th and 10th February, 2013
Produced and edited by Andrew Walton (K&A Productions Ltd.)
Engineered by Mike Clements

Digitally remastered