Quite Orgiastic Petrenko conducts Shostakovich - recommended by GERALD FENECH '... very much on the ball ...'

After having been closely acquainted with recent Shostakovich cycles on MDG and Arts, this new CD from the impeccable RLPO stable featuring the up and coming Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko was meat and drink to my ears.

The Eighth Symphony is a bit of an enigma in that it is supposed to celebrate the end of the war but in its way, it has a tongue-in-cheek attitude about it which is also rather tragic. This was well caught by such eminent conductors as Mravinsky and Kondrashin, who were among the most loyal exponents of the work...

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

VASILY PETRENKO

ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

NAXOS

RUSSIA

WORLD WAR II

UNITED KINGDOM

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC