Shostakovich: Song Of The Forests, Ten Poems

Vladimir Ivanovsky (tenor), Ivan Petrov (bass), Boy's Choir of the Moscow State Chorus, USSR Academic Russian Choir, Leningrad Radio & TV Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, USSR Symphony Orchestra, Yuri Ulanov (conductor), Alexander Yurlov (conductor), Konstantin Ivanov (conductor)

Composed by: SHOSTAKOVICH, D.

Songs of the Forests Op.81; The Sun Shines Over the Motherland Op.90, Ten Poems on Words of Revolutionary Poets Op.88

This Hybrid SACD, the latest in Praga's series of historic remasterings, is a tribute to three outstanding Russian artists - conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, choirmaster Alexander Yurlov and the great bass Ivan Petrov. The featured composer is Dmitri Shostakovich, and the three works here were written during the era of Josef Stalin. The oratorio The Song of the Forests was written in 1949 to celebrate the forestation of the Russian steppes following the end of World War II. Premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Yevgeny Mravinsky, the work earned the composer a Stalin Prize the following year. The cantata The Sun Shines on Our Motherland, with texts by Soviet poet laureate Evgeni Dolmatovsky, was premiered in 1952 on the 35th anniversary of the October Revolution. Ten Poems on Texts by Revolutionary Poets was Shostakovich's first work for a cappella chorus and also won him a Stalin Prize in 1952.

Price: $22.98