Classical Music Discoveries

In this month’s edition of “Classical Essentials”, made possible by a generous donation by Dennis Loeffel, we bring to you a stunning performance of Shostakovich’s masterpiece, Symphony No. 5 in D minor. Op. 47 This work was composed between April and July 1937 and was first performed on November 21, 1937, by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky. The premiere was a huge success and received a standing ovation that lasted over half an hour. The next day, Melodiya recorded the Leningrad Philharmonic performing the 5th in an empty concert hall. After a full day of recording, Melodiya wrapped the session and this recording was never heard of again. We assume there were some politics at play that prevented this recording from being heard, but to this day, no one seems to recall what the reason for not allowing this recording to be heard was. Now jump ahead to June of 2014 and one of the producers from Melodiya, sends this recording to Classical Music Discoveries and asks us to digitize the recording and broadcast it to our audience. So after 78 long years, we are proud to present to you the premiere recording of this masterpiece.