I. Allegretto ∙II. So the Leningrad performance was its third hearing, though the first in the city for which it was named. 7 Resistance The lowest estimate for the number of Soviet people murdered for political reasons between 1928 and 1941 is 7.9 million. From either perspective, it is not exactly an optimistic work. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. The ultimate horror is, in fact, that nobody will ever know. 60, "Leningrad": I. Allegretto. But on Thursday night, principal percussionist Joseph Petrasek drew the focus during the opening movement of Symphony No. Sections for history, chorus, youth symphony, conductors, program schedules, financial support, ticket sales. The 7th symphony is one of Shostakovich's "great" symphonies. Oboist Elizabeth Koch Tiscione and English horn player Emily Brebach both excelled in solo passages, as did bass clarinetist Alcides Rodriguez and bassoonist Andrew Brady. 1. ASO music director Robert Spano conducts the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and guest artist Johannes Moser at Symphony Hall. In this form, it was then smuggled to Iran, driven to Egypt, and flown via South America to the U.S., where Toscanini and the NBC Symphony gave it an American premiere on July 19, 1942. While the 69-minute symphony can seem overlong, and the writing a bit sluggish in parts, Spano and company maintained direction throughout and kept a quick pace, refusing to get bogged down in the composition. 7 in C major, Op. He began work on his Seventh Symphony in the first hot days of July. During the concert, empty chairs were placed in the orchestra to represent musicians who had perished before the performance could be given. The ASO is as good soft as it is loud, and Spano knows how to make the orchestra respond instantaneously to his simplest or his most exaggerated gestures. So long had the city been under siege that several orchestra members had succumbed to famine during the rehearsal period, and the ensemble, finding itself short of players, put out a call for help. It was August 9, 1942. As for the composer himself, he was unable to attend the American performance in person, but was there in spirit, on the cover of Time magazine, with a photograph of him in fire-fighting gear. Omissions? The symphony was finished there and premiered with a gathering of the composer’s colleagues on March 5, 1942. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the CD release of Shostakovich: Symphony No. Moderato (poco allegretto) ∙III. The procession, more sardonic than grim, is interrupted at times by outbursts of brass. Of course, these woodwinds can only really be heard in the soft sections — except for the aggressively insistent E-Flat clarinet, played with buoyant joy by Ted Gurch, that bounds over the orchestral fray, leading the way with its thrillingly, pinch-toned timbre that is both toylike and filled with authority. Throughout, the Atlanta Symphony play with stunning concentration and ensemble playing that obviously is deeply felt. 6 & 7 [2 CD] by Andris Nelsons/Boston Symphony Orchestra Audio CD $20.11 In Stock. 7 had on its listeners in 1942. Shostakovich's Symphony No. Interested in participating in the Publishing Partner Program? A distant march develops, complete with snare drum, and growing gradually more fearsome. This is all the more amazing because the Seventh contains 74 min. Setting the march energy aside temporarily, Shostakovich brings in mournful themes for strings and an extended solo for bassoon, before closing the movement with a distant recollection of the martial theme. Symphony No. 7. Updates? Not only was Europe at war, but the German army stood at the gates of Leningrad. 404-733-5000, atlantasymphony.org. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Imagine it as a symphony reflecting any people persevering in the face of adversity, and it becomes a work with universal appeal. of often leaden, banal, rhetorically inflated music, among the least inspired that Shostakovich ever put into a major symphony. 7. 60, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Leningrad-Symphony-No-7, AllMusic - Symphony No. Yet Shostakovich's own intentions for the piece remain enigmatic, despite his stated purpose that it represents Russian resistance in the face of Nazi aggression. The second movement (Moderato - Poco allegretto) begins with the second violins, whose theme gradually reappears elsewhere in the orchestra in layers of counterpoint. 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