Album insights
Andris Nelsons, the Latvian conductor, continues his Grammy-winning cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, now recording the Fourth and Eleventh symphonies of the Russian composer. Shostakovich’s "Fourth" symphony, composed in 1936, was not premiered until 1961, eight years after Stalin's death, due to the composer's fear of repercussions for his perceived "unsoviet" compositions. This dramatic and impressive new recording is tied to the premiere, as BSO's violinist Vyacheslav Uritsky was involved in the Moscow debut.