Symphonies no. 1 - 3

"This splendid Dutch band and chorus are persuasive advocates for the "socialist" Second and Third, but they shine in a by turns dazzling and soulful account of the ever-astonishing First." Sunday Times, 10th June 2012

"Wigglesworth's performance of the First Symphony particularly...seems intent on demonstrating how much that work does actually foreshadow what followed from the Fifth Symphony onwards...Wigglesworth and the Netherlands Radio Orchestra do a fine job in clarifying the tangled textures [of 2 & 3], and in making their choral finales seem a bit more than just propagandist doggerel." The Guardian, 21st June 2012 ****

Mark Wigglesworth continues his Shostakovich cycle on BIS, performing with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir Symphonies Nos. 1 to 3

The First Symphony was in fact the graduation piece that completed his studies at the Leningrad Conservatory, but to quote Mark Wigglesworth, 'Shostakovich's trade-mark musical gestures are all immediately obvious' and was an immediate success.

The Second and Third symphonies are still rarely performed in concert. At least nominally, there is a political theme to both works - the Second was a commission from the State Publishing House to honour the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution and The Third, with its subtitle 'The First of May', was a celebration of the international Worker's Day.