Leonard Bernstein leads the Wiener Philharmoniker in revelatory performances of Symphony no. 6 and Symphony no. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich – works that are as much vivid historical testaments as they are extraordinary musical achievements. Filmed at the Musikvereinssaal, Vienna in 1986, the performance of Symphony no. 6 – a rarely-performed, pre-WWII composition that Bernstein describes as Shostakovich’s “secret confession in public” – was part of a benefit concert for the restoration of this world-famous concert hall The short, festive Symphony no. 9 celebrates the end of the war – a masterpiece Bernstein calls “the least predictable and most surprising Ninth that exists” Featuring bonus material with Leonard Bernstein’s own introductions to both symphonies – Now available for the first time on DVD