Nelsons at the Shostakovich Festival Leipzig: "Leningrad" Symphony

In this concert, filmed at the Shostakovich Festival Leipzig, in May 2025, Andris Nelsons unites his two orchestras – the Gewandhausorchester and the Boston Symphony Orchestra – in a one of the greatest of all 20th-century symphonies, Shostakovich's huge Symphony No. 7. The longest of the composer's symphonies, it was composed at the height of World War II and presented as an act of resistance against the German siege of Leningrad (today's St Petersburg); its performance in the city, in almost unimaginable conditions, has gone down in legend. Over 80 years later – and 50 years after Shostakovich's death – the work remains as powerful as ever, especially in such a performance as this.