‘Wiener Philharmoniker & Nelsons’

To celebrate the victory over Germany in the Second World War, Stalin expected Shostakovich to compose a Ninth Symphony similar to Beethoven’s glorious Ninth. Yet the work composed was more sarcasm than militaristic acclaim. Shostakovich combined a symphony with classical contours with an ironic, falsely naive piece. As a prelude to this Ninth, the Vienna Philharmonic performs Fairy-Tale Poem by Sofia Gubaidulina, a major 20th century composer classified as ‘decadent’ by the Soviet regime. Finally, the Sixth Symphony was composed by Dvořák for the Vienna Philharmonic, revealing the influence of two great German symphonists: Beethoven and Brahms.