Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar"

To conclude the trilogy of Shostakovich's symphonic works with baritone, Mathias Goerne, Mikko Franck and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France present his thirteenth symphony, known as 'Babi Yar'. This work, composed in 1962, was written based on a poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, dedicated to the massacre perpetrated on 29 and 30 September 1941 on the outskirts of Kiev, in the ravine known as Babi Yar, where 30,000 Jews were shot by German soldiers. The composer added other poems and crafted a grand symphony in five movements, like a cantata for bass, male choir and symphony orchestra. Devoted to a subject obscured by the Russian authorities, the work faced numerous obstacles and was performed in a watered-down version in the Soviet Union for around ten years.