Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich Symphony no. 7

‘Certain moments in history gave composers the possibility of saying something deeply personal’, says LSO Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda. ‘And Shostakovich speaks equally to us today’.

As Noseda and the LSO continue their journey through all 15 of Shostakovich’s symphonies, which span the composer’s lifetime, they take on one of his biggest creations – the Seventh. Written during the siege of Leningrad in World War II, it’s shattering in scale and impact. For Noseda, ‘you can hear the march of the soldiers, the obsessive repetition, a loop you cannot escape,’ in the relentless, pounding rhythms, the struggle towards a fragile victory.

The first half of the concert takes us back to an earlier chapter of Russian history, in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Full of drama, character, colour and sweeping lyricism, it shows the Russian composer’s flair for channelling his emotions into his sweeping music.