Published on: 2026-11-10
Source: Melodiya – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
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Shostakovich.Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
120 years edition.
“It is absolutely clear to me that this symphony is the main one in Shostakovich’s life,” says conductor Ivan Nikiforchin, under whose direction the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra recorded this work this year. “Created by a genius at the age of 30, it lay unnoticed for a long time and gained worldwide recognition many years after it was written. In the Fourth Symphony, Dmitry Dmitrievich foretold his destiny, foretold all his creative work. I am happy that together with MSASO we are recording exactly this music.”
The composition, written for an orchestra with an expanded group of wind and percussion instruments, was created between 1934 and 1936 under the influence of Gustav Mahler’s music. The fate of the symphony was dramatic: after the premiere of the opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District,” the newspaper Pravda published a scathing article, launching a campaign to persecute the composer. Shostakovich canceled the symphony’s premiere, even though the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra had already begun rehearsing the piece. During the Siege of Leningrad, the score was lost, and only sketches remained. In 1946, Dmitry Dmitrievich recopied the material for two pianos based on these sketches. Later, surviving parts for all instruments were found in Leningrad libraries, which allowed the full score to be restored.
The symphony was first performed on December 30, 1961, in Moscow under the direction of Kirill Kondrashin. Later it was performed and recorded by Mstislav Rostropovich, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, and other outstanding conductors. It is now offered to music lovers performed by the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Russia. Since 2024, its artistic director has been Ivan Nikiforchin. More than one hundred musicians, including guest performers, took part in the recording of this release.
The recording was made at Mosfilm’s “Sound Studio” under the direction of sound engineer Mikhail Spassky.
Denis Bocharov, Kultura Newspaper, 05.11.2026
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