Everything we now take for granted about Deutsche Grammophon today - the famous cartouche, the attention to editorial and technical detail, the perfect alignment of artist and repertoire - can be traced way back, for sure. But it's stunning recordings like these that, albeit a new, fresh take, so to speak, echo back to an era where DG were also fresh - and look where they are today!

For those not in the classical know, Andris Nelsons is the Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in fall 2015 he was announced as Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, commencing in the 2017/18 season. With both appointments, and in leading a pioneering alliance between these two esteemed institutions, Andris Nelsons is firmly underlined as one of the most renowned and innovative conductors on the international scene today.

His goal is a complete Shostakovich cycle on Deutsche Grammophon with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. And so, even though he is only in his mid-30s, Nelsons has had a long journey with Shostakovich. He is one of the last conductors of his generation who still grew up in the Russian and, more especially, the Soviet musical tradition ever since he started his training as a conductor. He studied in St. Petersburg with Alexander Titov and also with Mariss Jansons.

His new orchestra has had a great tradition in performing many of Shostakovich's works in America for the first time and this 2CD collection of 21 movements is, simply put, one of the most stunning I have ever heard to date.

Disc: 1
1. Shostakovich: 1. Allegro [Symphony No.9 In E Flat, Op.70] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
2. Shostakovich: 2. Moderato [Symphony No.9 In E Flat, Op.70] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
3. Shostakovich: 3. Presto - [Symphony No.9 In E Flat, Op.70] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
4. Shostakovich: 4. Largo - [Symphony No.9 In E Flat, Op.70] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
5. Shostakovich: 5. Allegretto [Symphony No.9 In E Flat, Op.70] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
6. Shostakovich: 1. Moderato [Symphony No.5 In D Minor, Op.47] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
7. Shostakovich: 2. Allegretto [Symphony No.5 In D Minor, Op.47] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
8. Shostakovich: 3. Largo [Symphony No.5 In D Minor, Op.47] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015
9. Shostakovich: 4. Allegro non troppo [Symphony No.5 In D Minor, Op.47] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2015

Disc: 2
1. Shostakovich: 1. Introduction And Night Watch [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
2. Shostakovich: 2. Funeral March [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
3. Shostakovich: 3. Flourish And Dance Music [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
4. Shostakovich: 4. The Hunt [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
5. Shostakovich: 9. Ophelia's Song [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
6. Shostakovich: 10. Lullaby [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
7. Shostakovich: 11. Requiem [Suite From Hamlet, Op.32a] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
8. Shostakovich: 1. Adagio [Symphony No.8 In C Minor, Op.65] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
9. Shostakovich: 2. Allegretto [Symphony No.8 In C Minor, Op.65] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
10. Shostakovich: 3. Allegro non troppo [Symphony No.8 In C Minor, Op.65] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
11. Shostakovich: 4. Largo [Symphony No.8 In C Minor, Op.65] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016
12. Shostakovich: 5. Allegretto [Symphony No.8 In C Minor, Op.65] - Live At Symphony Hall, Boston / 2016

www.AndrisNelsons.com