Haitink, London Philharmonic
"Shostakovich: Symphony no. 7 "Leningrad" (Vinyl)

A four-sided LP is needed to contain Shostakovich's mammoth 7th symphony, universally rearded as a "war symphony" and the composer's response to the siege of Leningrad during World War II.

The symphony starts in such a sweeping, dramatic way it's hard to believe it's Shostakovich. Still, it would seem that Shostakovich had a unique motivation when writing the work. Regardless of his personal beliefs of and censorship by the Soviet government, the struggle against the Nazis was a universal one, and Shostakovich sought to unify energies against the great evil of the 20th century.