CD: Shostakovich: Symphony No 4, Kirov Orchestra/ Gergiev

The leading Russian conductors of our time in one of Shostakovich's greatest symphonies, and there is only fractions to choose between them. The differences are predictable - Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian RSO are the more refined partnership, and point up the extraordinary textural invention of the Fourth Symphony, while Gergiev and the Kirov orchestra favour grander, more theatrical effects and physical excitement, even though their tempi in the great first movement are fractionally slower.

If Jansons has the edge thanks to better orchestral playing, neither performance leaves any doubt of the huge stature of the work that Shostakovich withdrew before its planned premiere in 1936, after the Stalin-inspired attack on his opera Lady Macbeth, and which was not performed in public until 25 years later.