Shostakovich Fifth

The words Shostakovich Fifth over a dark background and an image of someone playing a violin

Leah Carl, viola

MEYER Go Big Or Go Home
FORSYTH Viola Concerto
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

Shostakovich wrote his brazen and bold Fifth Symphony in 1938 in a desperate attempt to secure some sense of safety in an unsafe world. A composer who was held hostage both artistically and literally, he created music that would fulfill the Soviet regime’s populist and “heroic” requirements and provide his political salvation. North State Symphony Principal Violist Leah Carl is featured in Forsyth’s hidden gem of a viola concerto with powerful soaring melodies that display the enormous versatility of the instrument.

Leah Carl posing with her violin
Leah Carl