It is somewhat ironic that Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony should today be one of his most popular, easily recognizable compositions for it was composed on the heels of savagely harsh criticism of his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District as a sort of appeasement to the detractors within the Stalinist regime. The Fifth Symphony was written specifically to be closely in line with the dictates of the state-supervise aesthetics, without the more inflammatory, satirical components that distinguished "Lady Macbeth" as well as ...
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It is somewhat ironic that Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony should today be one of his most popular, easily recognizable compositions for it was composed on the heels of savagely harsh criticism of his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District as a sort of appeasement to the detractors within the Stalinist regime. The Fifth Symphony was written specifically to be closely in line with the dictates of the state-supervise aesthetics, without the more inflammatory, satirical components that distinguished "Lady Macbeth" as well as the Fourth Symphony. Regardless of the conditions under which it was composed, the symphony has become a cornerstone of the repertoire and is easily the most frequently and recorded of his fifteen symphonies. This Ambroisie album features the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under new (as of the 2008-2009 season) chief conductor Jaap van Zweden. Overall, the orchestra offers a passionate, technically proficient reading of the symphony. Zweden pays close attention to the sometimes...
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