Unmistakable and still highly relevant—Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, first heard during the siege of Leningrad in 1942, is a key work in Bychkov’s repertoire. One reason is his familial connection to Leningrad of that era, and a second is the conductor’s love of Shostakovich’s works for their authenticity and close ties to Russian history.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 “Leningrad” (73')
Semyon Bychkov conductor
Czech Philharmonic
“The genius of this symphony lies precisely in the fact that it is not descriptive. At no point do you hear, for example, "Here the German tanks have turned left... Art is there to evoke a state or a feeling. And that's what Shostakovich managed to do, to find sounds and tones that evoke in us an unwavering feeling that we know what it's about. This is what one sees, feels and hears in Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony - all aspects of life from happiness to hope to fear, destruction, good and evil.”
— Semyon Bychkov, Chief Conductor
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