Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (Alain Altinoglu)

Information

Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich

• Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 43
• Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra

Alain Altinoglu, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Alpha Classics

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Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra launch their complete Shostakovich symphony cycle with recordings of the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. Composed between 1935 and 1937, these works reflect a turbulent period in the composer’s life, shadowed by political persecution and personal loss. Both symphonies embody Shostakovich’s exploration of human suffering, fear, and endurance, posing the haunting question of what it means to be human. The sense of martyrdom and moral struggle that pervades these works would later resurface in his mature symphonies and in his opera Lady Macbeth of Mzensk.

Born in Paris in 1975, Alain Altinoglu studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he now teaches conducting. He serves as Music Director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Chief Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of the Festival International de Colmar. Acclaimed for his expressive and insightful leadership, Altinoglu regularly conducts many of the world’s foremost orchestras and appears at leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Covent Garden. Also an active recitalist with mezzo-soprano Nora Gubisch, he records for major international labels.

High Resolution 24-bit / 48 kHz