Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 1 in D major

Mahler’s First Symphony: the opening chapter of his spiritual autobiography. And the music itself seems to awaken – emerging from hushed strings and woodwind cuckoos into its stride, marching forth, stamping towards an eerie realisation of a nursery rhyme and arriving at a final, blazing affirmation of confidence. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in this live 2010 concert performance including the Symphony’s original second movement, ‘Blumine’.

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75) Symphony No. 8

Composed during the Second World War, Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony is a powerful work that juxtaposes music of unremitting bleakness and moments of shattering brutality, ending in a tentative expression of optimism. Today it stands not only as a chilling reminder of some of the darkest days of the 20th century, but also as a reminder of Shostakovich’s acute musical imagination and craftsmanship. Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in this live 1983 concert recording from Royal Festival Hall.

Johannes Brahms (1833-97) Symphonies 1 & 3

Conductor Klaus Tennstedt enjoyed a close and enduring relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra that resulted in his appointment as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Music Director in 1983, later becoming its Conductor Laureate. Renowned for his interpretations of the German Romantic repertoire, Tennstedt once said he loved the LPO so much because ‘it is a romantic orchestra’. Here he conducts the Orchestra in live concert performances of Brahms’s Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3.

MICHAEL MORPURGO - THE MOZART QUESTION

Children’s author Michael Morpurgo is perhaps best known for his book War Horse, which has enjoyed success as a film and on the West End stage. Here the former Children’s Laureate narrates his equally touching book The Mozart Question, an eloquent and ultimately uplifting story charting a small boy’s discovery of his love for the violin, and of his parents’ traumatic past in a concentration camp during the Second World War. This CD weaves together the book’s narration with musical extracts to bring the story alive, featuring pieces by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.