JUKKA PEKKA SARASTE conducts

MUSSORGSKY Prelude to Khovanschina
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4

Known for his interpretations of Shostakovich, Jukka Pekka Saraste leads the Fourth Symphony, a dark and emotionally charged, groundbreaking work brought about by great suffering of the Stalin-era in the Soviet Union.

Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony differed from his second and third symphonies which had been patriotic with choral flares. While creating and composing this very personal work, he had fallen out of favor with the Russian Political Party, and in an unsigned editorial, Joseph Stalin denounced the composer and targeted a previous piece.

Undaunted by this, Shostakovich completed this symphony and planned to premiere it in Leningrad in 1936. The rehersals continued, but eventually ended up being withdrawn due to the government exerting pressure on the Philharmonic’s director to cancel. This pressure lead to Shostakovich withdrawing the symphony. Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony did not premiere until 1961, to high critical acclaim, well after Stalin’s death and the change in the Soviet Union’s cultural climate.

Music became essential — it expressed the ideas and feelings of a people that otherwise had no voice. Yet the Fourth Symphony was withdrawn, lay dormant and unperformed, for 25 years after its completion. This bold, brilliant score now recognized as the composer’s “credo” will be the largest concert of the season on the DSO stage.

NOTE: No Intermission in this performance.