Back when I was first getting acquainted with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich perhaps the most widely available recordings of the symphonies were the ones by the Leningrad Philharmonic conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky on the Melodiya label.  They were quite distinctive; blaring brass, and in some ways sounding rather crude.  Was that what the conductor/composer wanted?  Was that how the orchestra played?  Or was it an artefact of the recordings?  As many of them are now available in various remasters from assorted labels I could dig a bit bit deeper and maybe I will but meanwhile what has come my way is a remastered release from two concerts the Leningrad Philharmonic; conducted by Arvids Jansons (father of Maris), gave in London in September 1971 and which were broadcast on the BBC.

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