Because of COVID we missed the opportunity to perform Beethoven during his 250th anniversary year in 2020. One of the programs that was to be featured is this one here, which is a reference to Beethoven’s enormous lingering influence on composers of later generations. Both the witty and wry Shostakovich symphony, and the grand melodrama of Tchaikovsky’s, are direct reactions to the great Master.
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5