Concertgebouw shostakovich biography

Musicians

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Sjostakovitsj

Symfonie nr.

7 in C major, op. 60 'Leningrad'

Semyon Bychkov leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Dmitri Shostakovich’s monumental ‘Leningrad’ Symphony.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s No.

7

It was during the siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) by the Nazis that Shostakovich composed the bulk of his Seventh Symphony, a monumental, poignant requiem for a ravaged city and for the victims of totalitarian regimes everywhere.

For conductor Semyon Bychkov, who was born and educated in that city, the ‘Leningrad’ Symphony has great historical and personal significance.

Almost a year after Leningrad was taken, the symphony was performed in the besieged city by local musicians, most of whom had b