Radio Free Shostakovich

On August 9th , 1942 a piece-meal orchestra performed Dimitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich's famous "Symphony No. 7" in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Notably the city was under siege by the Nazi's.  If you're a WWII buff you may have already noted that this was in the middle of the 900-day prolonged siege called appropriately the Siege of Leningrad.It lasted from September 8th, 1941 to January 27th, 1944. The performance was broadcast live on Radio Leningrad. Loudspeakers also broadcast the performance throughout the city.  More here.

In his paper Bolshevik voices, Bradley Trinkner described it as follows:

"Perhaps one of the most important roles radio played during the war was in Leningrad during the hard blockade winter of 1941 – 1942. As the Germans strangled the city and its residents faced the reality of a Russian winter without heat and food, Leningrad radio continued to broadcast. With thousands dying of starvation around them and the situation appearing bleak, tuning into the city’s radio let residents know that people were still there and the resistance continued."

Shostakovich and his family had been trapped in Leningrad since the Finnish army cut off the rail lines in August 1941. On September 2nd he took to Radio Leningrad to announce that he had finished the score of two movements of a large symphonic composition. He said "Why am I telling you this? So that the radio listeners who are listening to me now will know that life in our city is proceeding normally."  The city was being bombed by the Germans at that very moment. Things were decidedly not normal, these were propaganda broadcasts, be there no doubt. But he continued to write and completed the Adagio by September 29th.

The work was premiered in Kuybyshev on March 5th 1942 with the The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. The microfilmed score was flown out. The symphony received its broadcast premiere in Europe by Sir Henry J. Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on 22 June 1942 in London. The North American premiere took place in New York City on 19 July 1942, by the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini.

But performing live in Leningrad was going to take more preparation.  The well-established Leningrad Radio Orchestra had been founded in 1931. But war, famine and disease had taken it's toll. Only 15 members of the original Leningrad Radio Orchestra were available, some had died, others had left to fight. Leningrad was starving. Reputedly the first rehearsal broke up after just 15 minutes, as the performers were too weakened to do more. Karl Eliasberg's Leningrad Radio Orchestra had to be supplemented with musicians from different Russian regiments along the front. Posters went up, requesting all Leningrad musicians to report to the Radio Committee. Orchestra members were given additional rations, perhaps as an incentive, perhaps so they'd play better. Nonetheless, Eliasberg threatened to withhold rations for any dissenting players.

Symphony No. 7 is Shostakovich's longest work,  usually taking upwards of 70 minutes to perform. To improve the odds of an uninterrupted performance The Russian army "neutralized" all points of Axis enemy fire and Soviet cannons were silent for the duration. Despite their efforts some bombs and projectiles were still heard. After the German invasion on June 22nd 1941 Radio Leningrad took to the air at 6:00 AM with a program announcing instructions for the populace during air raids. Radio Leningrad was had become accustomed to broadcasting in these conditions. They began their radio broadcasts-at a different time every day in order to confuse the Germans who were trying to jam their signals. More here.

Shostakovich had dedicated his symphony to the people of Leningrad, who went on to endure another year and a half of siege before the Soviet army broke through the encirclement in January 1944. After the war, Symphony #7 debuted in Germany on December 22nd 1946 with Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.