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Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (excerpts) – triumph or terror?
When Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 premiered in November 1937, the composer was under immense pressure to conform to the Soviet authorities’ expectations of upbeat, optimistic, accessible music.
What he produced was a masterpiece of ambiguity – the finale could be heard both as a triumph for Stalin, and as the defiant survival of humanity against the dictator.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Orchestra | ´óÏó´«Ã½ National Orchestra of Wales |
Conductor | Otto Tausk |
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Tunes for Tyrants - The Music
´óÏó´«Ã½ Music presents longer extracts from some of the key performances from this series.
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