Seventh Symphony

The latest play by Robert Riddle Baker, 7th Symphony, sets the composition of Shostakovich’s most famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it. In vivid and compelling detail he tells the story of the cruelties heaped by the twin monsters of the twentieth century on a city of exquisite beauty and fine minds, and of its no less remarkable survival. Weaving the story of one orchestra member preparing for the symphony along with his friends, three other artists, into the context of the maelstrom of Stalin’s purges and the brutal Nazi invasion of Russia; 7th Symphony is a magical and moving account of one of the most tragic periods in history.

Shows are upstairs on RT's MainStage and will begin May 27-28 & June 2-4 at 7:00pm with matinee's on May 29 & June 5 at 2:30pm. 

Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 August 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation. The assembled musicians – scrounged from frontline units and military bands, for only twenty of the orchestra’s 100 players had survived – were so hungry, many feared they’d be too weak to play the score right through. In these, the darkest days of the Second World War, the music and the defiance it inspired provided a rare beacon of light for the watching world.