I saw this documentary on Sky Arts a few weeks ago. It looks into the relationship between Stalin and Shostakovich and the historical context behind his 4th-9th symphonies. It started with his denunciation following Stalin's attendance at a performance if his opera 'Lady Macbeth'. Apparently Stalin didn't approve of his opera, complaining that it was "primitive and vulgar". This coincided with the "Great Purge" in which many of Shostakovich's friends and family disappeared, either being imprisoned or killed.
This led to Shostakovich pulling the premiere of his 4th symphony during rehearsals. Equally, he was under a lot pressure when writing his 5th symphony to produce music that would please the Soviet council. The documentary featured interviews with Shostakovich's daughter and witnesses to key events in his life, such as the premieres of his 5th and 7th symphonies.
An interesting comment from one of Shostakovich's close friends was the way he reacted to his 2nd denunciation at the end of the 2nd World War. Shostakovich was made to read a statement in public which stated that he didn't write music which represented the public or their interest. This didn't sit well with Shostakovich as he believed his music represented the struggle and raw emotion everyone felt living in the Soviet Union under Stalin.
The big learning point for me from watching this documentary was how much raw emotion there can be in music and how there are historical contexts to many great compositions. Shostakovich's 4th symphony is supposedly the most personal of all his works, whilst his 5th symphony was written at a time where he lived in constant fear for his life.
Wanting to learn more, I found the following documentary on youtube looking into his 5th symphony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHCIJ_oLoHw (part 1 of 6)
Whilst this is really Michael Tilson Thomas's interpretation of this work, it gives a detailed insight into the pain and emotion in the piece; in particular the way he finishes the 4th movement where, rather than finishing on a triumphant high, it finishes rather uncertainly; almost reflecting the mood of society at the time. I've performed the symphony before, but I had never considered the context of it and its significance in Shostakovich's life. In hindsight, I feel as though we missed the power of the piece by not knowing this.
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