Artist: Elizabeth Atherton, Peter Rose, Jess Dandy, BBC Philharmonic, John Storgårds Title: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14, Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva Year Of Release: 2023 Label: Chandos Genre: Classical Quality: FLAC (tracks) / 24bit-96kHz Total Time: 01:14:41 Total Size: 1.24 GB Tracklist: 1. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: I. My verses (4:11) 2. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: II. Whence all this tenderness? (3:36) 3. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: III. Dialogue between Hamlet and His Conscience (2:45) 4. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: IV. No, the drum did beat (1:35) 5. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: V. The Poet and the Tsar (3:01) 6. Shostakovich: Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva, Op. 143a: VI. To Anna Akhmatova (6:00) 7. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: I. De profundis (5:20) 8. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: II. Malaguena (2:59) 9. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: III. Loreley (9:25) 10. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: IV. The Suicide (7:45) 11. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: V. On Watch (2:59) 12. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: VI. Madam, look! (1:55) 13. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: VII. In the Santé Prison (9:36) 14. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: VIII. The Zaporozhian Cossacks' Answer to the Sultan of Constantinople (2:04) 15. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: IX. O Delvig, Delvig! (4:40) 16. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: X. The Poet's Death (5:44) 17. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14 in G Minor, Op. 135: XI. Conclusion (1:13) John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic continue their survey of Shostakovich’s late symphonies with this recoding of the 14th, with Elizabeth Atherton and Peter Rose as soloists. Completed in the spring of 1969, and premiered later that year, the symphony is written for soprano, bass and small string orchestra with percussion, setting eleven linked setting of poems by four authors. Most of the poems deal with the theme of death, particularly that of unjust or early death, and indeed all four of the poets had died prematurely and / or in unnatural circumstances – Wilhelm Küchelbecker in Siberian exile for his part in the 1825 Decembrist uprising, Federico García Lorca assassinated during the Spanish Civil War, in 1936, Rainer Maria Rilke of blood poisoning following an accident in 1926 and Guillaume Apollinaire in 1918 during the Spanish influenza pandemic. The Six Verses of Marina Tsvetayeva were composed in 1973, originally for contralto and piano, and subsequently arranged for chamber orchestra (the version we hear here, with Jess Dandy as soloist). The recording was made at Media City in Salford, Manchester, in Surround Sound, and is available as a hybrid SACD and in Spatial Audio