Pavel Kogan conducts Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

The Soviet authorities called Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony an "optimistic tragedy", but as always with Shostakovich, the reality is a lot more complex and compelling. In 1990, as the Iron Curtain dissolved, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra brought this epic work (plus a series of encores) to Munich’s Klaviersommer festival as part of a programme conducted by the MSSO’s newly-appointed chief conductor Pavel Kogan – who would go on to redefine this famous orchestra in the post-Soviet era. The atmosphere in this live performance is as powerful as the playing; a remarkable document of an enduringly significant moment in Russian music.