BBC Philharmonic, CBSO Chorus, John Storgårds

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2 in B major, Op. 14 'To October'
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Commissioned to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution, Shostakovich’s Second Symphony (1927) is a short, modernist work that departs sharply from the style of his first. Its structure moves from a Largo portraying primordial chaos to a choral finale praising Lenin. In stark contrast, the Fifth Symphony (1937) stands as one of the composer's most famous works. It received a legendary half-hour standing ovation at its premiere, acclaimed by state officials for its formal structure and by the public as an expression of the suffering endured under Stalin.

John Storgårds continues his Shostakovich cycle with the BBC Philharmonic, capturing the avant-garde experiments of the Second and the taut, emotional weight of the Fifth.

"Storgårds doesn’t quite find the depth of darkness that some do in the first movement [of No. 5], but there’s power in the way he warms the sound when the harmonies turn towards the light, and the third movement has a compelling feeling of stillness. The finale is full of small increases in tempo, tautly done, that wind up the tension." — BBC Music Magazine, April 2026