Jukka-Pekka Saraste conducts Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony

Imagine a symphony of iron and steel: a masterpiece so uncompromising that for decades, no-one dared perform it. In Stalin’s Russia, music as bold as Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony was often banned. Today we can hear it for what it is: a gripping eye-witness account of a dark chapter in modern history, told in music of shattering originality and strength.