Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 + 5

With the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, Alain Altinoglu and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt begin their complete recording of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies. Shostakovich dared to express human suffering, passion, fear, and catastrophe in his music, while always grappling with the question: What is man? In this sense, these two symphonies begin with a question—the idea of martyrdom, which would become the central theme of his later symphonies and, of course, his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Both symphonies date from 1935–1937, during Shostakovich's thirties; this was one of the darkest and most difficult periods of his life, marked by the repercussions of some of his writings and the arrest of many people close to him, including members of his family.