Two of Dmitry Shostakovich's most enigmatic symphonies appear on this 2012 release from Hänssler Classic, and because their surface gaiety masks more ominous undercurrents, they make a fascinating pair of works to study and compare. Originally planned to mark the end of World War II and celebrate victory over the Nazis, the Symphony No. 9 in E flat major became instead a thinly veiled critique of Stalin, Soviet oppression, and the waste of human lives; the outwardly cheerful tunes seem to be deliberately frivolous and ...
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Two of Dmitry Shostakovich's most enigmatic symphonies appear on this 2012 release from Hänssler Classic, and because their surface gaiety masks more ominous undercurrents, they make a fascinating pair of works to study and compare. Originally planned to mark the end of World War II and celebrate victory over the Nazis, the Symphony No. 9 in E flat major became instead a thinly veiled critique of Stalin, Soviet oppression, and the waste of human lives; the outwardly cheerful tunes seem to be deliberately frivolous and occasionally martial, but not so much that they obscure the many passages of bleak despair and gloom. Shostakovich had good reason to conceal his true feelings in this manner, especially since Stalin had expected a monumental work on the level of Beethoven's Ninth and become critical of the composer's motives, so the symphony was laced with ambiguity and irony, as a kind of defense against attack. By 1971, Stalin was long dead and Shostakovich's expression was no longer hindered by...
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