Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos.1 & 15

The second release on the Mariinsky label features Shostakovich's first and final symphonies. Valery Gergiev made award-winning recordings of Shostakovich symphonies for Philips, however he will release a complete cycle on the Mariinsky label, starting with the symphonies he has not previously recorded. Over 45 years separate the composition of the works on this disc and yet both exude creativity and Shostakovich's dark wit. The first symphony owes much to the influence of Shostakovich's Russian predecessors including Tchaikovsky and Scriabin. However it also reflects contemporary artistic life and the optimism of the early years of the Soviet Union. By contrast, the final symphony is a more bitter work, drawing on many of the themes that recur throughout Shostakovich's career and yet never resorting to melodrama.