"The tension in the first movement, slowly rising from agitated calm, even really crackling, the emotional up-and-down ride of the second, the funeral march in the third movement grounded in intimacy (...): it tears our hearts and thrills our minds," the Stuttgarter Zeitung enthused about the recording, which was released in March 2021.
The live concerts featuring the work had already made the critics rejoice in November 2018: "Conductor and orchestra alike demonstrated gripping intensity and the highest Shostakovich competence," wrote the Badische Zeitung, and the Rheinpfalz judged: "absolutely authentic and phenomenal." The Online-Merker wrote: "Eliahu Inbal succeeded in an outstanding way at putting the rebellious composer Shostakovich in a bright light."
"Anyone who claims that compromises were made does not understand Shostakovich," the conductor himself declared of his interpretation, excerpts of which can be heard at
swr.de.
Dmitri Shostakovitch, Symphony No. 11 (The Year 1905)
SWR Symphony Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal
SWR, order number 10407386
