This is the first release from the recently formed SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart, and there was good reason for it to be a performance of a Shostakovich symphony. This live recording under the experienced baton of Eliahu Inbal shows the extraordinary level at which this orchestra is performing after only five years of existence!

Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony focuses on the so-called St Petersburg Bloody Sunday which, according to the Julian calendar, took place on 9 January 1905. Following the format of a classical symphony, the work has four movements; these follow one another without a break, creating a continuous narrative flow. There’s no denying that the Eleventh Symphony is not a symphony in the classic sense but rather a symphonic poem or programme symphony. Shostakovich always needed an external subject for his compositions to express the central idea of his music. The SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart powerfully expresses the underlying ideas of the work with complete conviction.