简介：OnSunday9August1942inLeningrad,aconcerttookplacethatdefiesbelief.Ayearearlier,theGermanshadbegunthedeadliestsiegeinhistory,whichwouldkill750,000civilians.Now,inthemidstofterror,agroupofstarvingmusiciansassembledtoperformShostakovich’s7thSymphony. Itwouldbecomeadefiantmomentinthecity’sultimatesurvival.Throughmusic,archiveandfirst-handtestimony,thisfilmtellstheextraordinarystoryoftriumphofthehumanspiritoverunspeakableterror. Shostakovich’s7thSymphonyhadbegunlifeinthecitybeforethesiegebutwascompletedelsewhereafterthecomposerwasevacuated.Onlyaftercircumnavigatingtheglobecourtesyofinternationalorchestrasacrossthreecontinentswasitsmuggledbackintothebesiegedcitytowhichittrulybelonged. ItsperformanceinLeningradattheheightofthesiege,byanorchestraofstarvingmusiciansscroungedfromfrontlineunitsandmilitarybands,wasoneofthemostmiraculousmomentsinthehistoryofmusic.AsthePhilharmonicHall’schandeliersshookfromRussiangunfire,theskeletalaudience–alldressedintheirfinery–listened,captivated.InthesedarkestdaysoftheSecondWorldWar,thisconcertandthedefianceitinspiredprovidedabeaconoflighttothewatchingworld. HistorianAmandaVickeryandmusicwriterandbroadcasterTomServiceonceagaincometogethertopresentthisepicfilm.TheirjourneysexploringthehistoryandmusicrespectivelyareunderpinnedbyextractsfromShostakovich’s7thSymphony,speciallyfilmedinthesamelocationasthathistoricconcert–theShostakovichPhilharmonicHallinStPetersburg–andbythesameorchestra,nowknownastheStPetersburgSymphonyOrchestra.…