Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, ’Babi Yar’ | Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin & Thomas Sanderling

In September 1941, nearly 34,000 Jews were murdered by Nazis and their collaborators at Babi Yar, a ravine near Kiev. To mark the 80th anniversary, Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony in B-flat minor, Op. 113- written as a memorial to the victims- will be performed at the Babyn Yar commemoration ceremony on October 6, 2021. Artists: Thomas Sanderling, conductor Albert Dohmen, bass-baritone Male singers from the ‘Kyiv’ Municipal Chamber Choir Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) I. Babi Yar (Adagio) II. Humour (Allegretto) III. In the Store (Adagio) IV. Fears (Largo) V. Career (Allegretto) Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906 - 1975) Babi Yar symphony piece has five movements for bass soloist, men’s chorus and large orchestra. The text is based on Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s poem Babi Yar, written in response to the suppression of the acknowledgement of the Nazi atrocity by Soviet authorities. Yevtushenko published the poem in 1961. Babi Yar is a reflection on the massacre as well as a searing condemnation of antisemitism.