Bernstein Conducts Shostakovich Leningrad Symphony No. 7 New York 2LP Box EX

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Leonard Bernstein Conducts  Dmitri Shostakovich

Leningrad Symphony No. 7 with the 

New York Philharmonic

Label: Columbia Masterworks M2S 722

Liner Notes  –  Nicolas Slonimsky

2 x  Vinyl,  LP, Reissue, Stereo

US, Modern Classical

Recording: Philharmonic Hall, now Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, October 22 & 23, 1962

All four vinyl sides are EX to NM. Very faint to indiscernible surface wear under glare of light. Clean labels. The box is NM, clean, intact edges, no writing, no stains.

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Dmitri Shostakovich's  Symphony No. 7  in C major,  Op. 60, nicknamed the  Leningrad, was begun in Leningrad, completed in the city of  Samara  (then known as Kuybyshev) in December 1941, and premiered in that city on March 5, 1942. At first dedicated to  Lenin, it was eventually submitted in honor of the besieged city of  Leningrad, where it was first played  under dire circumstances  on August 9, 1942, nearly a year into  the siege  by  German  forces. The performance was broadcast by loudspeaker throughout the city and to the German forces in a show of resilience and defiance. The  Leningrad  soon became popular in both the  Soviet Union  and the West as a symbol of resistance to fascism and totalitarianism, thanks in part to the composer's microfilming of the score in Samara and its clandestine delivery, via  Tehran  and  Cairo, to  New York, where  Arturo Toscanini  conducted a  broadcast performance on July 19, 1942, and  Time  magazine placed Shostakovich on its cover. That popularity faded somewhat after 1945, but the work is still regarded as a major musical testament to the 27 million Soviet people who lost their lives in  World War II, and it is often played at Leningrad Cemetery, where half a million victims of the 900-day  Siege of Leningrad  are buried.

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Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich  (25 September  [O.S.  12 September]  1906  – 9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his  First Symphony  in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostakovich achieved early fame in the  Soviet Union, but had a complex relationship with its government. His 1934 opera  Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  was initially a success, but eventually was  condemned by the Soviet government, putting his career at risk. In 1948 his work was  denounced  under the  Zhdanov Doctrine, with professional consequences lasting several years. Even after his censure was  rescinded in 1956, performances of his music were occasionally subject to state interventions, as with his  Thirteenth Symphony  (1962). Shostakovich was a member of the  Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR  (1947) and the  Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union  (from 1962 until his death), as well as chairman of the  RSFSR Union of Composers  (1960–1968). Over the course of his career, he earned several important  awards, including the  Order of Lenin, from the Soviet government.

Shostakovich combined a variety of different musical techniques in his works. His music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the  grotesque, and ambivalent  tonality; he was also heavily influenced by  neoclassicism  and by the late Romanticism of  Gustav Mahler. His orchestral works include 15  symphonies  and six  concerti  (two each for piano, violin, and cello). His chamber works include 15  string quartets, a  piano quintet, and two  piano trios. His solo piano works include two  sonatas, an early set of  24 preludes, and a later set of  24 preludes and fugues. Stage works include three completed operas and three ballets. Shostakovich also wrote several  song cycles, and a substantial quantity of music for  theatre  and  film. Shostakovich's reputation has continued to grow after his death. Scholarly interest has increased significantly since the late 20th century, including considerable debate about the relationship between his music and his attitudes toward the Soviet government.

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Leonard Bernstein  (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American-born conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic  Donal Henahan. Bernstein's honors and accolades  include seven  Emmy Awards,  two  Tony Awards, and 16  Grammy Awards  (including the  Lifetime Achievement Award) as well as an  Academy Award  nomination. He received the  Kennedy Center Honor  in 1981. As a composer, Bernstein wrote in many genres, including symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music, and pieces for the piano.  Bernstein's works  include the  Broadway  musical  West Side Story, which continues to be regularly performed worldwide, and has been adapted into two (1961  and  2021) feature films, three symphonies,  Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"  (1954), and  Chichester Psalms  (1965), the original score for the  Elia Kazan  drama film  On the Waterfront  (1954), and theater works including  On the Town  (1944),  Wonderful Town  (1953),  Candide  (1956), and his  Mass  (1971).

Bernstein was the first American-born conductor to lead a major American symphony orchestra. He was music director of the  New York Philharmonic  and conducted the world's major orchestras, generating a legacy of audio and video recordings. Bernstein was also a critical figure in the modern revival of the music of  Gustav Mahler, in whose music he was most interested.  A skilled pianist, Bernstein often conducted piano concertos from the keyboard. He shared and explored classical music on television with a mass audience in national and international broadcasts, including  Young People's Concerts  with the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein worked in support of  civil rights, protested against the  Vietnam War,  advocated nuclear disarmament, raised money for HIV/AIDS research and awareness, and engaged in multiple international initiatives for human rights and world peace. He conducted Mahler's  Resurrection Symphony  to mark the death of president  John F. Kennedy, and in Israel at a concert,  Hatikvah on Mt. Scopus, after the  Six-Day War. The sequence of events was recorded for a documentary entitled  Journey to Jerusalem. At the end of his life, Bernstein conducted a performance of Beethoven's  Symphony No. 9  in Berlin to celebrate the  fall of the Berlin Wall.