Arvīds Jansons (1914-1984) was born in Liepāja on Latvia’s west coast. He studied violin from 1929 until 1935 at the Conservatory of Liepāja, then composition and conducting (under Leo Blech) at the Conservatory of Riga from 1940 until 1944 while working as a violinist at Riga Opera.

In 1944 he was appointed conductor of Riga Opera, then of the Latvian Radio Orchestra (1947–1952). In 1952 he was appointed associate conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky and toured frequently with them, as well as with other Russian orchestras, to the UK and to the Continent from 1970 onwards.

Jansons became principal guest conductor of Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra in 1965 at the personal invitation of Sir John Barbirolli who knew of Jansons as an expert orchestral conductor but a genius in the rehearsal studio. It was in Manchester that Jansons collapsed and died from a heart attack in 1984 while conducting a concert with the Hallé. Arvīds was the father of Mariss Jansons (1943-2019).

This is the second release of Arvīds Jansons’s recordings with the celebrated Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra; the first featured Tchaikovsky and received rave reviews from Rob Cowan in Gramophone.

The Leningrad Philharmonic has always been associated with the music of Shostakovich and premiered the Fifth Symphony in 1937 and the Ninth Symphony in 1945.

Jansons preserves the unique sound of the Leningrad Philharmonic with highly expressive performances which were met by enthusiastic audiences at the Royal Albert Hall Proms and at the Royal Festival Hall in 1971.

A short encore of Wagner’s Lohengrin Prelude from Act 3 following the electrifying performance of Shostakovich Symphony no.5 is included.

Stereo recordings: 13 September 1971, Royal Albert Hall, London (Symphony no.5 + Wagner); 19 September 1971, Royal Festival Hall, London (Symphony no.9)