Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Symphony no. 7 in C major, "Leningrad" Op.60

The combined forces of the Gewandhaus and Boston Symphony unite under Andris Nelsons for a searing Leningrad Symphony, while the Quatuor Danel tackles the string quartets. 

As part of the Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival, Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony is given a stunning visual direction by Kirill Serebrennikov to match the RPO's gripping playing. 

In a thrilling concert oscillating between lush sentiment and explosive tension, pianist Lise de la Salle and conductor Diego Matheuz lead the NSO through Rachmaninov’s emotional grandeur and Shostakovich’s wartime defiance. 

20-year old violin star María Dueñas plays Johan Halvorsen'sViolin Concerto; Shostakovich's “Leningrad” Symphony feels as relevant today as it did in World War 2.

In a brilliant performance of the "Leningrad" Symphony, Jaap van Zweden proved that great music knows no cultural borders.

In the cathedral-like surroundings of Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, a superb first movement of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony eclipses Kabalevsky’s First Cello Concerto.

Semyon Bychkov opens the new Czech Philharmonic season with a passionate personal commemoration.

Buniatishvili 4 – Tchaikovsky 2 at the interval, but Dmitri Dmitrievich comes off the bench after half time to level for the Russians in Leningrad.

Jonathon Heyward steps in for Sir Mark Elder to conduct The Hallé in Shostakovich's Leningrad.

Kochanovsky has been making waves around Europe and beyond, and we now heard just why.

Reaching the climax of his exploration of Shostakovich’s “war symphonies”, Rafael Payare and the Ulster Orchestra pit Strauss’ epic tone-poem against the colossal “Leningrad” Symphony.

The Atlanta Symphony and Conductor Robert Spano pay tribute to one American and one Russian composer, beloved for their reflections on their homelands. 

Lamsma is not a household name here in America but her deep sense of commitment may well make her one.

Kochanovsky andthe NSO gave a masterful rendition of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 7 while cellist Harwood delighted in Kabalevsky's Cello concerto no. 1 

Astonishing virtuosity for the clarinet along with one of the great wartime symphonies ensured a fascinating evening at the 2018 Proms.

Peter Oundjian was at the top of his game with Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Shostakovich and Scriabin.

After Joshua Bell's fine Wieniawski, the Philadelphia Orchestra's account of the Leningrad Symphony took this concert to a higher plane. 

Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts the LPO in a dramatic programme of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto and Showtakovich’s Leningrad symphony

Youth was a hindrance rather than a virtue in this testosterone-driven performance which sought more than anything to sock the audience between the eyes

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra provided a formidable performance of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony under Marin Alsop, with Renaud Capuçon bringing warmth and joie de vivre to Mendelssohn.

Sofia Gubaidulina has always been drawn to non-traditional sounds, something which invariably landed her in trouble during the Soviet era. The bayan, a 200-button Russian accordion, became the source for many of those sounds in solo and concerted pieces. “It breathes,” she has said, possessing an “earthy quality like no other instrument”.

It's not plain-sailing in Lupu's Beethoven, but Järvi's clear-sighted and controlled approach and the Staatskapelle's high-quality playing make for especially musical Shostakovich after the interval. 

Sydney's Indian Summer brightened by Russian themes. 

It's a sound that makes you forget to breathe: deep, monolithic and with a high-definition sound in which every component gleams.

Juanjo Mena conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a brilliant programme of Bartók and Shostakovich at the Bridgewater Hall.

After Martinů's Memorial to Lidice Mariss Jansons and the BRSO left the listener speechless with Shostakovich's Seventh.

The return of Andris Nelsons for the Seventh in his complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra demonstrated yet again the marvelous chemistry between the two. 

Let’s not beat about the bush: the BBC Symphony Orchestra wouldn’t rank among my top ten orchestras in the world. Semyon Bychkov, however, has a transformative power over its players and in a monumentally impressive account of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony, Bychkov made the BBCSO truly sound one of the world’s greats.

The I, Culture Orchestra animate an Edinburgh Festival audience with elegy, irony and defiance.

Baldur Brönnimann conducted a storming performance of Shostakovich's “Leningrad” Symphony after a bold and original Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto from Ryan Drucker.

The idea that war is hell is certainly not a new one. Shostakovich may not have had knowledge of the quote's original context, but he was no stranger to the atrocities caused by war.

Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra is a lively, catchy piece, and was played as such by the Labèque sisters and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Semyon Bychkov. Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 7 is, however, long, heavy and disquieting.

Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto and Shostakovich’s “Leningrad” symphony were wonderfully played by the Orchestre de Paris and Alexander Toradze at the Salle Pleyel, despite Mikko Franck's last-minute cancellation.

Sir Mark Elder conducted the Hallé in a moving account of Shostakovich’s mighty Leningrad symphony and was joined by actor Samuel West for a Britten world première at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.The vast symphony, 80 minutes long and scored for legions of brass and percussion, is best known for its more dramatic passages, such as the first movement’s terrifying march and the shattering finale.

In terms of Mozart’s piano concerti, K482 is known less for its intrinsic musical quality than its predecessor (K467) and its successor (K488), but it is more famous due to the unusual circumstances of its public introduction.

A neighbour at a recent visiting orchestra’s Edinburgh Festival concert asked me what I thought of the atonal frenzy in the pre-performance free-for-all; warm-up scales mingled with sneak peeks at tricky passages. My response was that a school orchestra would not be allowed to do this.

When Simon Rattle left the CBSO in 1998 predictions of the orchestra's imminent demise came flooding in from the press. Sakari Oramo, who filled Rattle's shoes, achieved what everyone thought was impossible, further honing the CBSO's sound, using his knowledge and expertise as a violinist to give the strings more polish and precision than they'd previously had.

The RSNO and Conductor Laureate Neeme Järvi attracted a very large audience for Friday’s concert in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh. The vigorous applause welcoming Järvi to the rostrum suggested that it was the conductor himself who had drawn in the crowds as much as the repertoire, which was to cover Dvořák's Serenade for Strings and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad).

Michael Sanderling dirigió la Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia en una velada inolvidable gracias a una sonoridad e interpretaciones brillantes.

Les deux chefs ont remplacé efficacement le directeur musical de l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France dans un programme Gordon-Chostakovitch qui a laissé une impression mitigée.

Mit Beatrice Rana als Solistin erklingt erstmals Clara Schumanns Klavierkonzert bei den Berliner Philharmonikern. Es folgt Dmitrij Schostakowitschs Leningrader.

Deux ans après un rendez-vous manqué sur fond de guerre en Ukraine, le désormais ex-directeur musical de l'Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse était de retour pour la Symphonie « Leningrad » de Chostakovitch.

Ludwig Carrasco dirigió la Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM en una breve obra de Valentyn Sylvestrov seguida de una apasionada interpretación de la Sinfonía Leningrado de Shostakovich.

Le jeune chef finlandais parvient à détacher l'œuvre du poids encombrant de l'histoire de son interprétation et pulvérise les idées reçues dans un concert mémorable.

À la Maison de la Radio, l'Orchestre National de France dirigé par Marin Aslop interprétait La Lame des heures de Jean-Baptiste Robin, avant le Concerto pour violon de Bruch par Kristóf Baráti et la Symphonie n° 7 de Chostakovitch.

La Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia retorna a las sinfonías de Shostakovich y ofreció en esta ocasión la Séptima en una lúcida lectura a cargo de Slobodeniouk.

Une vertigineuse Symphonie n° 7 de Chostakovitch célèbre le retour de l'ex-directeur musical de l'Orchestre de Paris à la Philharmonie.

Tras una recepción algo fría en el Baluarte, la Joven Orquesta Nacional de España consiguió, junto a una calurosa interpretación del trompetista Manuel Blanco y una clamorosa Leningrado bajo la batuta de Pehlivanian, arrancar el entusiasmo del público.