RSNO: Shostakovich Seven

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra are back at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 31 October, with Bassem Akiki conducting Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 — the one everyone knows as the Leningrad Symphony.

It's a massive piece of music with a heavy history behind it. Shostakovich wrote it in 1941, partly while the German siege of Leningrad was still going on, and it quickly became a global symbol of resistance against fascism. Hearing it live is a different thing altogether from listening on a record; it's a long, demanding work that takes its time to build, and the Leningrad name isn't just a label — the whole thing is tied up in that specific moment of the Second World War.

The RSNO is Scotland's national orchestra, and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is their home. It's a curved stone building in the city centre with an auditorium that seats up to 2,475, and it's hosted a wide range of names over the years — BB King, Johnny Cash, Van Morrison, David Byrne and Debbie Harry have all played here. The RSNO performs there regularly and runs a broad range of education and outreach programmes alongside their main concerts.

Tickets run from £15 to £42, and the performance starts at 19:30 on Saturday 31 October at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow City Centre G2 3NY.