This work is subtitled 'A Soviet Artist's Practical Reply to Just Criticism' though there is little evidence that Shostakovich amended his style in response to the major party criticisms he received in previous years.
The structure may be architecturally conventional but the power and intensity of each of the movements communicates clearly. The baroque grandeur of the opening moderato, the heavily ironic minuet and the lamentation of the adagio all show very different sides of one of the greatest symphonists of the twentieth century.
This recording is performed by the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra; Fernando Lozano, conductor.
Download this work now through July 17th, 2008.
