shostakovich had completed the work the year prior and had intended for its world premier to be performed by the leningrad philharmonic, but both he and the orchestra were evacuated from the city as it was besieged by the nazis. the work instead was first performed in the city of kuybyshev (now samara) in march 1942. a performance in moscow followed later that month
in april 1942, members of the leningrad arts department announced that preparations were underway for a performance in the besieged city, with the hopes that it would raise morale among the sick and starving citizens. the leningrad radio orchestra was the only ensemble remaining in the city after the evacuation of the philharmonic, and of its 40 members, only 15 remained. in order to reach the 100 members required to perform shostakovich's symphony, conductor karl eliasberg went door-to-door seeking musicians, recruitment posters went up around the city, and some members of military bands were recalled from the front
despite sickness, starvation, lack of heat, the poor condition of many instruments, and the deaths of three musicians during the months of rehearsals, the concert was given on august 9, 1942 in the grand philharmonia hall. soviet lieutenant-general leonid govorov ordered a bombardment of german artillery positions in advance of the concert, aiming to silence the nazi guns so that the performance could be heard. leningrad citizens packed the concert hall and stood outside the windows or around loudspeakers throughout the city to hear the performance
the siege continued until january 1944 but the nazis could never break the spirits of the people of leningrad
I will leave you with the words spoken by karl eliasberg before the concert began and with a recording of shostakovich's symphony no. 7 performed by the symphony orchestra of the ministry of culture of the ussr in 1985:
"Comrades – a great occurrence in the cultural history of our city is about to take place. In a few minutes, you will hear for the first time the Seventh Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich, our outstanding fellow citizen. He wrote this great composition in the city during the days when the enemy was, insanely, trying to enter Leningrad. When the fascist swine were bombing and shelling all Europe, and Europe believed the days of Leningrad were over. But this performance is witness to our spirit, courage and readiness to fight. Listen, Comrades!"
