Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony: Defiance in the Face of Fear
Santtu-Matias Rouvali with the Philharmonia Orchestra
On Friday, October 24, 2025, UMS welcomes back London’s Philharmonia Orchestra on their limited US tour with one of the most gripping works of the 20th century: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
It has been more than two decades since Shostakovich’s Fifth last thundered on a UMS presentation in Hill Auditorium. Now, conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts the work in his UMS debut, bringing the same urgency, defiance, and raw humanity that stunned audiences at its 1937 premiere.
Illustration of Dmitri Shostakovich
A Symphony Under Surveillance
Shostakovich composed his Fifth Symphony during one of the most dangerous chapters of his life. Just months earlier, Joseph Stalin had walked out of a performance of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, prompting the infamous Pravda newspaper editorial titled “Muddle Instead of Music.” Suddenly, the Soviet Union’s brightest young composer found himself in mortal danger. He kept a suitcase packed by the door, prepared for arrest at any moment.
The premiere of his Fourth Symphony was canceled under political pressure, prompting Shostakovich to focus on his Fifth. Publicly, it was described as “a Soviet artist’s creative response to just criticism.” But privately, it was something far more complicated: a daring act of survival, full of coded resistance, irony, and emotional truth too dangerous to state outright.
In the following documentary-performance from 2009, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony discuss how the Fifth marked the composer’s triumphant return, offering clues to unlocking Shostakovich’s musical secrets:
Music That Speaks Without Words
Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 is widely interpreted as a coded act of defiance, using music to express the hidden anguish and tragedy of life under oppression.
From the uneasy opening in the strings to the brutal brass fanfares and the ambiguous finale that oscillates between triumph and tragedy, the Fifth Symphony is a masterpiece that refuses to be pinned down. Audiences in 1937 wept openly at its premiere, recognizing their own fear, grief, and resilience in the music.
Here in Ann Arbor, UMS presented the work just three years after its Leningrad debut, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Serge Koussevitzky. Eighty-five years later, its power remains undimmed, and the work feels just as urgent in our turbulent times.
The Philharmonia in Ann Arbor
Founded in 1945, the Philharmonia Orchestra has shaped the modern sound of classical music for nearly eight decades alongside a suite of legendary principal conductors: Otto Klemperer, Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Today, it thrives under the dynamic leadership of Santtu-Matias Rouvali, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “exceptional even in an era with a number of remarkable young conductors.”
Joining the orchestra on the October 24 program is star Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, a Grammy-winning artist whose poetic intensity has made him one of today’s most sought-after soloists. His performance of Beethoven’s monumental “Emperor” Concerto — another work that has not been performed at UMS in two decades — promises to be a highlight of the evening.
Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with Santtu-Matias Rouvali and the Philharmonia Orchestra
A Return and a Reawakening
This concert is a chance to experience Shostakovich’s searing emotional landscape in the very hall where Ann Arbor audiences first encountered the work 85 years ago. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear one of the most significant and powerful symphonies of the 20th century, brought to life by musicians who understand its every nuance.
Tickets start at just $26 (+fees), with many student ticket discount opportunities available.
