Kirill Petrenko describes Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony as an “incredible psychological drama”. The composer wrote it while his life was in danger during the Second...

Kirill Petrenko describes Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony as an “incredible psychological drama”. The composer wrote it while his life was in danger during the Second World War: between a perilous existence and Stalinist censorship. The Ninth and Tenth also bear vivid witness to Shostakovich’s confrontation with the regime – and his self-assertion. Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings now releases the recordings of Symphonies 8–10 as the orchestra’s second major hardcover edition with chief conductor Kirill Petrenko.