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Condemned by Stalin, Dmitri Shostakovich had little choice but to write a symphony in sympathy with the dictator’s regime – or face certain death. Shostakovich found a third way. The symphony he delivered is a poetic, sardonic and climactic spiritual battle in which the composer disguises his protest as praise – with its ingenious choreographed jubilation, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony may well have saved its composer’s life.

Baritone Kostas Smoriginas is the soloist in Modest Mussorgsky’s seminal Songs and Dances of Death. The composer’s visionary and dramatic songs chart a journey from youth to death, itself given a whole new dimension by Shostakovich’s evocative orchestration. To start, we hear a fantastical work from a visionary Russian composer, Sofia Gubaidulina.

Please note the originally advertised conductor Eva Ollikainen has had to withdraw from this concert due to an ankle injury.