Schostakovich, Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar“ – VÄGUS

VÄGUS performing Schostakovich Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar“ with conductor Simon Phipps. New translation to Swedish with bass singer Nils Gustén and male choir. Recorded in Gothenburg Concert Hall in February 1, 2017. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar” – set to music poems by the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. The texts concern the Jewish persecution and Babi Yar is a ravine where several mass executions took place during World War II. The symphony was a poignant protest against racism and oppression in the former Soviet Union – the maximum set position theme even today. At the premiere in 1962 said that Nikita Khrushchev tried to stop the work, without success. However it was met by an eloquent silence from the press.