S64E14: Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony

Synopsis

From the Royal Albert Hall and introduced by Suzy Klein, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner perform Shostakovich's iconic Fifth Symphony (A Soviet Artist's Reply to Just Criticism) which found huge favour with the Stalinist authorities in the 1930s and has since become internationally established as one of the great popular masterpieces of the 20th century. The programme also includes the Four Sea Interludes from Britten's opera Peter Grimes, and the world premiere of a new violin concerto by young British composer Huw Watkins, performed by Alina Ibragimova.