CBSO Nelsons conducts Shostakovich - Matinee

In Soviet Russia, listening to Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony could have got you arrested. Huge in scale, and overwhelmingly powerful, this epic symphonic portrayal of a nation broken by war and tyranny is the ultimate proof that some music speaks louder than any words. No wonder they banned it!

Today, we can listen without fear – but Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony remains one of those masterpieces that everyone needs to experience for themselves. No-one conducts Russian music with more emotion – or power – than Andris Nelsons. In the hands of German virtuoso Christian Tetzlaff, Brahms’s serene concerto should be the lyrical calm before Shostakovich’s devastating storm.