About the album

Amsterdam Sinfonietta (formerly called Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam) concentrates on what has always been one of its strong points: the scintillating presentation of sensitively chosen programs, based on the emotional power of the stringed instruments. Shostakovich is unquestionable a powerful composer. His String Quartet No.8, intensely poignant and personal in the slow movements, bitter and driven in the faster sections, may be interpreted as an outcry against war, like Shostakovich's War Symphony No. 8 from 1943.This symphony shows musical relationships with the String Quartet No. 8. Together with String Quartet No. 10 a breathtaking album.