Symphony No. 10

Premiere: December 17, 1953. Great Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonia. Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Leningrad Philharmonia. Conductor Y Mravinsky.

Duration: 50’.

First Edition: Score, "Muzgiz" Publishers, Moscow, 1954. Author's arrangement for piano - four hands - 1956.

Premiere abroad: November 14 and 15, 1954. New York. Orchestra of the New York Philharmonia. Conductor D. Mitropoulos.

Symphony No. 10

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93, in 1953. No precise data has been found to indicate when he began working on the score. Soon after finishing the symphony, Shostakovich prepared its four-hand piano score.

The Tenth symphony is the symphony Shostakovich thought over the longest; its initial idea and even some of the thematic sources date back to 1944 and did not reach their fruition until 1953.

In contrast to many other works, the author’s manuscript of the Tenth Symphony does not contain notes about where it was composed.

The first performances of the Tenth Symphony took place at the end of 1953. On 16 December, a dress rehearsal was held in Leningrad, on 17 December, the premiere was performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic and on 18 December, the symphony was performed again. The symphony was first performed in Moscow by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (on 28, 29, 30 December). All of these concerts were conducted by Evgeny Mravinsky.

On 15 February 1954, the piano version of the Tenth Symphony performed by Shostakovich and Weinberg was recorded at the Moscow Sound-Recording House.

The score and author’s arrangement of the Tenth Symphony for Piano Four Hands was published by State Music Publishers as early as 1954.

Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony quickly became one of the most frequently performed Soviet symphonic works.

In 1954, the Tenth Symphony was performed with invariable success in Kiev, Minsk, Riga, and Ordzhonikidze. In 1956, the Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra began its season with a performance of the Tenth Symphony under the baton of Arnold Kats.

The first studio recording of the symphony performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Mravinsky was done on 24 April 1954.

Soon after the Leningrad world premiere, the first performances of the Tenth Symphony were held abroad: 14 October 1954 in New York (the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos) and 10 April 1955 in London (the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult).

In 1954, the first foreign gramophone recordings of the Tenth Symphony were done35 in East Germany and in the US.

Recordings:

- Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeni Mravinsky. 1954 // MK HD 02243-4, 1954
- Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Franz Konwitschny. 1954 // Eterna 72 0006-7
- New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos. 1954 // Columbia ML 4959
- Roma RAI Symphony Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski. 1955 // Stradivarius STR 10035, 1990
- Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ančerl. 1955 // Deutsche Grammophon DGM 18300, 1956
- USSR Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeni Svetlanov. 1966 // Melodiya D018131-2, 1966
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski. 1966 // Japanese Stokowski Society JLSS 0021
- Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan. 1966 // Deutsche Grammophon SLPM 139 020, 1969
- Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy. 1968 // Columbia M 30295
- Berlin Symphony Orchestra, David Oistrakh. 1972 // Harmonia Mundi HMX 2905255.59, 2002
- Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Temirkanov. 1973 // Russian Disc RDCD 11 195, 1993
- Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin. 1973 // Melodiya C04505-6, 1974
- London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Davis. 1974 // Classics for Pleasure CFP 40216, 1975
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund. 1975 // HMV BOX 504402, 1976
- London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink. 1977 // Decca SXL 6838, 1977
- Berlin City Symphony Orchestra, Kurt Sanderling. 1977 // Eterna 8 27 093, 1986
- USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky. 1982 // Melodiya C10 18617-8, 1983
- London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn. 1982 // HMV ASD 4405, 1983.
- Philharmonia Orchestra, Simon Rattle. 1985 // HMV EL 270315-1, 1986
- Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. Vladimir Fedoseyev. 1987 // Moscow Studio Archives MOS 19063, 2003
- Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi. 1988 // Chandos ABRD 1319, 1989
- London Symphony Orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich. 1989 // Teldec 9031 74529-2, 1991
- London Symphony Orchestra, Maksim Shostakovich. 1990 // Collins Classics 1106-2, 1990
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti. 1990 // Decca 433 073-2DH, 1992
- Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Valeri Polyansky. 1995 // Chandos CHAN 9522, 2000
- Philadelphia Orchestra, Mariss Jansons. 1994 // EMI CDC5 55232-2, 1995
- Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra. Alexander Sladkovsky. 2017 // Melodiya. MEL CD 1002470, 2017 (13 CDs)