deFilharmonie . Mikhail Agrest

Dear audience, rest assured. In Bernstein's summary of Greek philosophy there is no trace of antique sophism! In his infectious Serenade, the 'Beethoven of Broadway' allowed himself to be inspired by Plato's 'Symposium'. Seven philosophers hold forth on the whimsical nature of love. From Alcibiades to Socrates, Bernstein presents an aural compendium of philosophical love. The top French violinist Laurent Korcia gives suitable shape to your favourite philosopher. The siege of Leningrad in Shostakovich's ears is expressed in his Seventh Symphony. Shostakovich began the piece when the city was being mercilessly harassed by German troops in 1941. Although Soviet propaganda was glad to regard it as a depiction of the heroic resistance and suffering of the people under the yoke of the German siege, Shostakovich endeavoured to add some nuances: "My Seventh Symphony is about the Leningrad which was destroyed by Stalin and where Hitler only dished out the final blows", or so it says in the controversial memoirs written by Solomon Volkov.