Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony offer clues to unlocking Shostakovich’s musical secrets and make the case for how the Fifth Symphony may have saved his life.

The Fifth Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich is the story of a fall from grace and redemption. Shostakovich was the golden boy until, virtually overnight, his patriotism was questioned and publicly condemned. Written in 1937 in Stalinist Russia, the Fifth Symphony marked his triumphant return. But the question remains: What did the composer mean to say with this enigmatic music? In scenes filmed in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony offer clues to unlocking Shostakovich's musical secrets and make the case for how this symphony may have saved his life.