Shostakovich: Symphony No 5

Few works stir up as much debate over their 'meaning' as Shostakovich's Symphony No 5. And equally few works can boast an interpreter with such insight as Mstislav Rostropovich. His friendship with the composer gave him an almost unique understanding of Shostakovich's inner traumas, and as with the 2002's outstandingly successful LSO Live recording of the Symphony No 11, he inspired the LSO's players to the heights of virtuosity.

LSO0550 46 minutes 58 seconds

'This is the sort of thing at which Rostropovich excels; the frozen wastes, the seas of desolation that cover this carefully-proportioned symphony have never been more atmospherically charted' (BBC Mu ...
'In this towering performance by the LSO under the composer's friend and colleague Mstislav Rostropovich ... Shostakovich comes across as a thoroughgoing modernist, agonised about the issues of t ...
'His strength is in his ability to inspire players. There's nothing routine about this performance: Rostropovich generates a fierce intensity … the LSO's response is consistently impressive' (Cla ...