According to its conductor, Paavo Jarvi, the two works performed on this new CD by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra represent the reaction of two different and distinct voices to the era of the infamous Soviet dictator. They appear together as important compositions emerging from two countries linked under the soviet system at a common point in their history, and share the same urgency, conviction and strength.

Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 is a work Paavo Järvi and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra know well. Following a performance at Carnegie Hall in 2003, The New York Times wrote, “...the blistering performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10...showed the potential that Mr. Järvi and [the CSO] have, and suggest a powerful chemistry between them....The orchestra played with a transfixing ferocity.” The piece was also featured prominently on a hugely successful CSO tour of Europe in April of 2008 that included sold-out performances in Vienna, Amsterdam and Paris. It was premiered in 1953 following the death of Stalin, and paints a bleak portrait of life under the dictator’s rule. Many commentators believe that the whirlwind-like second movement is a musical representation of Stalin the man, and the havoc and destruction that followed in his wake.

Although Veljo Tormis is mostly recognized for his prolific choral works, his Overture No.2, which was premiered in 1959, is an early, purely orchestral piece. Paavo Järvi, who is himself originally from Estonia believes that Tormis is one of the more important Estonian composers and that this Overture is something truly unique.