This concert from May 29, 1969 in Moscow featured compositions of Bach and Shostakovich. Already at that time, Karajan s rendition of Bach might have seemed to the audience to be rather out-of-date; performances of Bach s music by instrumental groups akin to those of his era were already almost completely standard. However, in Karajan s hands Bach enforced by the weighty sound of string instruments possesses no less appeal. The performance of Shostakovich s Tenth Symphony has caused much debate; the critics heard a certain cold madness and a rage of a whirling Scherzo. However, a much more adequate response was the reaction of the composer himself, who was in Leningrad and who sat silently without moving, completely overcome with the force with which his creation was sounded out.