Powerful music against the odds, from occupied Poland to snow-bound Finland to Stalinist Russia.

This programme connects with mind and body like a hit of espresso first thing in the morning. Its energy comes from some dark places, but we can hear a defiant expression of humanity nonetheless. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, written during the terrors of Stalin’s Russia, sends chills up the spine. Bacewicz’s fizzing Overture was - incredibly - composed during the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1943, while Sibelius’s violinist and orchestra struggle for supremacy against the backdrop of an icy, Finnish winter. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff tackles its monumental solo part, while Gemma New conducts the CBSO in this vital, stirring programme.