Melbourne Conservatorium of Music: Leningrad Symphony

During World War II, the siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days and claimed over a million lives — most from starvation and cold. In response to the unimaginable suffering around him, Dmitri Shostakovich began composing his Leningrad Symphony while still living in the city.

Shostakovich was later airlifted out for the premiere in March 1942, before the microfilmed score made its way via Tehran and Cairo to London. There, Sir Henry Wood conducted its first Western performance, followed soon after by Arturo Toscanini in New York. With its terrifying invasion theme and elegiac undertones, the symphony became a global symbol of resilience and defiance in the face of Nazi aggression.

This concert will begin with Arvo Pärt’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten — a moving tribute from one composer to another. The Orchestra will then welcome soprano Ruth Blythman, winner of the 2024 Conservatorium Solo Artist Competition, for a performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs — a hauntingly beautiful meditation on death, written shortly before Strauss’s own passing.