Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to open season with Shostakovich concerts

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will open its 2025-26 season with two concerts this week to mark Shostakovich's 50th death anniversary.

Yu Long, conductor and artistic director, will lead the orchestra with performances of the Russian composer's Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 7 on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Russian composer will be 120 years old next year.

Dmitri Shostakovich, who was born in Leningrad, is of Polish heritage. He got a formal music education that was mostly based on German traditions, but also saw the emergence of Western modern music concepts.

The social environment of the former Soviet Union "shackled" Shostakovich, but it also provided fertile ground for his creativity, allowing him to record history and seek self-expression through musical notes amid contradictions.

Symphony No. 5 is one of Shostakovich's best-known works, published under immense political and public pressure.

Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" was aired over the radio amid the smoke and fire of World War II, reaching audiences all over the world and serving as a potent morale booster for those fighting Nazism.

Shostakovich's Symphony 7, 8, and 9 are together known as the "War Trilogy." The last two will be performed by the orchestra in October and November.

In the first part of Friday's concert, the orchestra will also perform Hong Kong composer Elliot Leung's "Chinese Kitchen: A Feast of Flavor." Pipa master Wu Man will perform Zhao Jiping's Pipa Concerto No. 2.

"We will complete the recording project of Shostakovich's complete set of 15 symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon over the next four seasons," said Yu.

"This is our way to pay the highest tribute to this great musician," he added.

This will make the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra the first Chinese orchestra to record and release the complete symphonies of Shostakovich.

Performance info

Dates: September 5 and 7, 7:30pm

Tickets: 80-880 yuan

Venue: Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall 上海交响音乐厅

Address: 1380 M Fuxing Rd 复兴中路1380号