Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77

In Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1, the violin is afforded no rest, continuously telling its dark story, circling the same thoughts, joking and mocking, stuttering wildly, becoming trapped in the vicious circle of ostinato passacaglia basses, losing itself in the solitude of the extended cadenza, and repeatedly falling into hauntingly beautiful song. The Stalin regime would not have failed to notice that while much here revolves in a narrow-minded way, nothing "runs smoothly," which is why it was not premiered until 1955, after Stalin's death. Pyotr Tchaikovsky initially considered his "Fate Symphony" a failure and thought he had reached the end of his creative powers. Enthusiasm for the work among the public grew with every performance. This was likely due to the composer’s self-doubt, which made it almost impossible for him to develop a self-confident attitude toward his own creative power. This recording of the 5th Symphony is another milestone in Andris Nelsons' Tchaikovsky cycle with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.