"The Execution of Stepan Razin (Op. 119)" by Dmitri Shostakovich (Audio + Score)

pf: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Estonian Concert Choir, Aleksei Tanovitski (bass) & Kostiantin Andrejev (tenor) cond/ Paavo Järvi

After composing the Thirteenth Symphony setting texts by the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko for bass soloists, male choir, and orchestra in 1962, Shostakovich turned again to Yevtushenko's poetry for his symphonic poem The Execution of Stepan Razin in 1964, also scored for bass soloist and orchestra, but this time with mixed chorus. Taking up where the first movement of the Thirteenth left off, the symphonic poem is huge and muscular, with a deeply heroic and yet profoundly ironic tone. Composed quickly over the summer of 1964 after the ninth and tenth quartets, Shostakovich anticipated troubles with the political censors in the post-Khrushchev era. However, although some critics carped at the work's perceived "naturalism," overall critical response was positive after the December premiere.
Although Shostakovich's oeuvre is rich in underappreciated masterpieces, The Execution of Stepan Razin is especially worthy of revival. A powerfully scored and strongly imagined work, the work is Shostakovich at the absolute peak of his powers. Without the constraints of Stalin and the Party and with the righteous fury of the Thirteenth Symphony all behind him, Shostakovich made Yevtushenko's poem his choral-orchestral masterpiece. Although not as wide-ranging as the Thirteenth in its emotional or musical scope, it has a more concentrated and intense passion matched, but not exceeded, even by the first movement of the Thirteenth.

(SOURCE: Allmusic.com)

English lyrics can be found here:
http://ypgtcm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/dmitri-shostakovich-execution-of-stepan.html