SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 10. Philharmonia Orchestra conducted...

SHOSTAKOVICH: SYMPHONY NO. 10. Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle. Angel-EMI CDC 7 47350 2 (compact disc). Rattle presides over a febrile performance of this finest of the composer’s post-Stalinist symphonies. Whether or not one admits the presence of autobiographical elements, Shostakovich audibly charts a trajectory from despair to sardonic triumph, an arch Rattle recreates with enormous incisiveness. If the Philharmonia doesn’t always characterize each and every passage with optimal brilliance, the conductor finds the tension of the extended opening movement and sustains the momentum to the bitter victory of the finale.