DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 4 (1935-1936)
Dateline Leningrad, December 11, 1936: “Composer Shostakovich appealed to the Leningrad Philharmonic with the request to withdraw his Fourth Symphony from performance on the grounds that it in no way corresponds to his current creative convictions and represents for him a long outdated phase.” That’s the last that would be heard of the Fourth until 1961, when it would finally be premiered by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Kiril Kondrashin. The creation of the Symphony No. 4, begun in 1935, came upon the heels of Shostakovich’s popular opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, which was selling out the opera houses of Moscow and Leningrad. Then, in January 1936, without warning, Pravda published an official condemnation of the opera, under the title “Chaos Instead of Music.” It seems Stalin had attended a performance and found it not to his liking. The opera was withdrawn. And while Shostakovich waited for the other shoe to drop, he completed his Fourth Symphony and planned for its premiere under Fritz Stiedry, chief conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic (and for the US premiere under Otto Klemperer). Then, mysteriously, Shostakovich announced the withdrawal of his work in December 1936. Explanations vary as to what really happened, but it seems unlikely that Shostakovich would voluntarily have withdrawn his nearly- completed symphony. According to Isaak Glikman, a friend of the composer’s, during one of the rehearsals, there was a visit from “the Secretary of the Composer’s Union, V. E. Iokhelson, accompanied by another important figure from the local Party HQ. Shortly afterwards, the director of the Philharmonic, I. M. Renzin, politely invited Dmitri Dmitryevich to his office. On the way home, Shostakovich was silent for a long while, finally saying in an even but toneless voice that the symphony would not be performed; it had been withdrawn on Renzin’s recommendation.” Rumors had been flying that Shostakovich was flouting his critics and writing a symphony full of the vilified “formalisms” that were the enemy of good Soviet music. The fact is that the Fourth is a product of the time of the Great Terror—the purges of hundreds of thousands of citizens—and the dark, ominous score reflect this terror. The required orchestral forces of more than 100 musicians, as well as its length and some content make it reminiscent of Mahler’s vast symphonies. Its three movements encompass everything from “Ländler-like” dance melodies to a funeral march, to blistering fffff blasts by all players, to the shattering coda, when the lone celesta dies away into a bleak abyss.

Gerard McBurney is artistic programming advisor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and creative director of Beyond the Score®. A native of Cambridge, England, he studied in England and at the Moscow Conservatory before returning to London, where he worked for many years as a composer, arranger, broadcaster, teacher, and writer.

In addition to his original compositions, Mr. McBurney has reconstructed lost and forgotten works by Shostakovich, and has published widely in the field of Russian and Soviet music. For 20 years he created and presented programs on BBC Radio 3, and he has written and researched nearly 30 television documentaries. McBurney was a lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and also has acted as advisor and collaborator with many orchestras and presenters, including Lincoln Center, the Emerson Quartet, the Hallé Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. McBurney was the narrator and director of Inside the Music at the New York Philharmonic on December 14, 2007, for an exploration of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4. Andrey Boreyko conducted the Orchestra in a complete performance of the work.

ANDREY BOREYKO, conductor, born in 1957 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia
Andrey Boreyko is one of the most exciting and dynamic conductors to emerge from Eastern Europe in recent years. His strong interest in music of the first half of the 20th century, as well as that of more recent years, has led him to collaborations with composers such as Henryk Górecki, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Arvo Pärt, among many others, and his discography includes the music of Ginastera, Takemitsu, and Pärt. Studying new scores, or scores new to him, is an important part of his life. This dedication to music of our time was recognized by the German Music Critics Union while he was chief conductor of the Jenaer Philharmonie between 1998 and 2003: he received the prize for most innovative concert programming in three consecutive seasons—an unprecedented achievement in the history of this award. He is currently Chief Conductor of the Berner Symphonie Orchester as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Euskadi, and General Music Director of the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. He has guest-conducted the great orchestras of Europe and Australia, as well as the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. His discography includes Arvo Pärt’s Lamentate and Silvestrov’s Symphony No. 6, both recorded with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2006 Hänssler Classic released a live recording, again with Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4 and the world premiere recording of his original version of the Suite Op. 29a from the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Despite his busy schedule, he finds time for other activities: “I enjoying reading, researching, finding and listening to all types of music that I have not previously encountered. I spend time thinking about new programs and am always keeping in touch with people by e-mail.”

“Mr. Boreyko seemed intent on … playing the work for all its breadth and passion. The Philharmonic responded with dazzling and often ferocious brass and woodwind playing, full-throttle percussion and a plangent, flexible string sound that could evoke a howling wind one moment and dark-hued smoldering the next.” The New York Times

“The music seemed to spring from his quivering fingertips in tiny electric arcs.” The Chicago Tribune

“He leads with an easy flair and natural musicianship.” Cincinnati Enquirer

“Maestro Boreyko gave his orchestra the chance to give a brilliant performance in all aspects. Boreyko certainly set a new benchmark. Standing ovations and stamping for him and his absolutely splendid orchestra.” Hamburger Abendblatt

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