The continuing growth in interest in the music of Dmitry Shostakovich has led to major recordings even of works that haven't been played much since they received their premieres in the composer's immediate circle. The first two works on this Finnish release might fit that category; the final Suite on Finnish Themes is still rarer, having only recently been rediscovered. The two larger works might be paired with symphonies that were contemporary with them and could easily make companion pieces for those symphonies in concert ...
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The continuing growth in interest in the music of Dmitry Shostakovich has led to major recordings even of works that haven't been played much since they received their premieres in the composer's immediate circle. The first two works on this Finnish release might fit that category; the final Suite on Finnish Themes is still rarer, having only recently been rediscovered. The two larger works might be paired with symphonies that were contemporary with them and could easily make companion pieces for those symphonies in concert. The Execution of Stepan Razin for bass, chorus, and orchestra, Op. 119, was composed in 1964. Its symphonic cousin is the Symphony No. 13 ("Babi Yar"), composed on texts by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. The text of this cantata was from a later set of poems by Yevtushenko, who by that time, in the more restrictive atmosphere that followed the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev, had fallen into disfavor. Shostakovich, however, was more or less untouchable, and furthermore there is nothing in the...
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