The first-ever recording of a living Ukrainian composer on the legendary yellow label. Double CD with symphonies No. 3, 4, 5. Release 7 November 2026.
Deutsche Grammophon — the planet's most prestigious classical label — releases the double CD 'Stankovych: Three Symphonies' on 7 November 2026. Programme: Symphony No. 3 'I Assert' (1976), Symphony No. 4 'Cruel Mornings' (2011), Symphony No. 5 'Sun Over the Trenches' (2026 — world premiere, see separate news). Performer — Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Kirill Petrenko. This is the first-ever DG release of a living Ukrainian composer. Recording took place at the Berlin Philharmonic (Berliner Philharmonie) throughout August-September 2026. First rehearsals were held on 14 August — a day that symbolically coincided with the 6th anniversary of the start of the full-scale invasion. Stankovych was personally present at 3 of 8 rehearsals (the other 5 — via video link due to the 84-year-old composer's health state). Album sound engineer — Gregor Zirgiebel, 4-time Grammy laureate. Release feature — an 80-page booklet including essays by leading European musicologist Hermann Denhof (Wiener Musikuniversität), composer Helmut Lachenmann, conductor Kirill Petrenko, and a full Stankovych interview recorded in his apartment on Tereshchenkivska Street in Kyiv in January 2026. The album releases in formats: 2-CD digipak, digital streaming, 180g vinyl (limited 800 copies). Pre-orders from 1 May 2026.
