Michelangelo-Suite

Matthias Goerne, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck continue their series of recordings of Shostakovich's symphonic works with baritone with the Suite on verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1974) and the symphonic poem October (1967). These are two very different works: the first is one of Shostakovich's most personal works and has nothing to do with the ideological issues of Soviet power. The second was written on commission from the Soviet authorities to glorify the revolution of 1917 and is full of irony. Matthias Goerne is the perfect interpreter of Shostakovich's great cycle of settings of Michelangelo's poems, in which intimate moments alternate with powerfully dramatic passages at full orchestral strength.