Eva Conducts Shostakovich

Few 20th-century symphonies have been hailed as uniformly as Shostakovich’s Fifth, a powerful and expressive work of depth and majesty. Shostakovich wrote it in 1937, at the peak of Stalin’s political purges. The composer had quite a bit riding on the reception of the piece, as the dictator had been less than enchanted with his most recent efforts. Shostakovich called the symphony “a Soviet artist’s response to just criticism,” but the music could be interpreted in various ways, particularly its triumphant ending. “It is as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,’” the composer is supposed to have said.

This is a unique opportunity to hear one of the most powerful symphonies of the 20th century under the baton of ISO Chief Conductor Eva Ollikainen.

The season’s final Green Series concert, featuring one of the 20th century’s most powerful symphonies.