Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 12 Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko

• Dmitry Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54:
• 1 I. Largo 19:45
• 2 II. Allegro 05:54
• 3 III. Presto 07:09
• Symphony No. 12 in D minor, ‘The Year 1917’, Op. 112:
• 4 I. Revolutionary Petrograd 12:40
• 5 II. Razliv 10:44
• 6 III. Aurora 03:31
• 7 IV. The Dawn of Humanity 09:55
• Total Runtime 01:09:38

Info for Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 12

Shostakovich’s Sixth and Twelfth Symphonies both had their origins in large-scale projects about Lenin, though the Sixth was eventually to emerge as one of the composer’s most abstract and idiosyncratic symphonies. The long, intensely lyrical and meditative slow movement that opens the work is one of the composer’s most striking. The Twelfth, one of the least played of Shostakovich’s symphonies in the West, became less a celebration of Lenin’s legacy than a chronological depiction of events during the Bolshevik Revolution. ‘The playing is fabulously crisp and committed, while the interpretations combine atmosphere and a sense of proportion – to the benefit of the youthful First, which receives an eerily effective performance, free of exaggeration.’ (Financial Times on Naxos 8572396 / Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3)

“Superlative standards already set by this team's Shostakovich couldn't afford to slip in a symphony as great as the Sixth. In the first movement, at least, Vasily Petrenko and the Liverpudlians reach new heights of articulation and sonic beauty...In the inferior Symphony No. 12, Petrenko applies his usual standards of well-differentiated articulation and soulful playing” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Petrenko makes a case that the Sixth could be amongst Shostakovich's most elusive puzzling creations...His solution to the Twelfth: stay out of the way, the RLPO's firepower is good in the telling...profound interpretative insights and stinging orchestral playing.” (Classic FM)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

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Booklet for Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 12