Credits:

Ohlsson, Garrick

Description:

In the 1930s, composer Dmitri Shostakovich was denounced in a review in the Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda, and his music was banned on principle. When the authorities began to take him away, he left his suitcase packed by the door of his room so as not to wake his family, living in constant fear of being imprisoned and killed. It was under these circumstances that he composed his Fourth Symphony. The work was withdrawn shortly before its premiere. It remained sealed for 25 years until after Stalin's death. The original score was lost. Only the orchestral parts and this little-known but wonderful arrangement of the 70-minute symphony, which the composer himself had prepared to perform for close friends, survived. This arrangement for two pianos was recorded only once on the Chandos label and is now out of print. This release is the only existing CD of this arrangement. It is wonderfully performed by the piano duo of Maki Namekawa and Denise Russell Davis. (Translated from the manufacturer's info)