Shostakovitch Symphony No?
Mon, Mar 25 2013, 2:27PM
#2
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
I have always been a big fan of No 4. It's an absolutely crazy work, and one of the loudest purely orchestral works in the concert hall. In other words, go see it live if you can. It was also used on an Horizon documentary on Jupiter many years ago.
No 8, is also good, probably the nearest in scope to a late 19th century "classical" work. Haitink's version with the ACO (one of my first CDs) is very good.
DSM
Mon, Mar 25 2013, 3:00PM
#3
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
I couldn't agree more with DarkSkyMan. No. 4 is, I believe, one of the very best of all 20th Century symphonies. In addition it is also one of the most exciting. There are several good recordings, many with Russian conductors, but Ormandy made a great one although peraps it was a bit too well played! Sorry if that sounds odd but in this symphony I think it is best if the orchestra is "playing by the seat of its pants" and at full stretch, the Phiadephia takes it in its stride.
I like all the symphonies with the possible exceptions of 2 & 3 which I find just too "tub-thumping". In this thread I also think no.1 has been under-mentioned, for anyone to compose this at 19 is astonishing .
As for a personal list ofperformance favourites:
No 1 - Ormandy
4 - Kondrashin or Ormandy
5 - Stokowski (BBC Legends)
7 - Berglund
8 - Mravinsky
10. Mravinsky
11. Berglund (or even better Karabits on a "free" BBC Music Magazine disc if you can find it)
13 & 14 - Barshai
15. Ormandy
If you need a complete set Barshai on Briliant Classics for around £20 takes some beating! Kondrashin is even better but costs 4 times as much.
Happy listening!
Mon, Mar 25 2013, 8:35PM
#4
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
I couldn't agree more with DarkSkyMan. No. 4 is, I believe, one of the very best of all 20th Century symphonies. In addition it is also one of the most exciting. There are several good recordings, many with Russian conductors, but Ormandy made a great one although peraps it was a bit too well played! Sorry if that sounds odd but in this symphony I think it is best if the orchestra is "playing by the seat of its pants" and at full stretch, the Phiadephia takes it in its stride.
I like all the symphonies with the possible exceptions of 2 & 3 which I find just too "tub-thumping". In this thread I also think no.1 has been under-mentioned, for anyone to compose this at 19 is astonishing .
Seconded, in every respect. You can't play this work 'safely'. For me, we're still waiting for a performance to match the Kondrashin. Even the recording has that feeling of seat-of-the-pants, engineers struggling to cope with the huge dynamic range. I look forward to seeing what Petrenko makes of it. Let's hope Naxos gives him a decent recording this time.
Interesting to go back to the early reviews. It was often dismissed as one thing after another with no cohesion and a paucity of ideas until the final apotheosis. Not for the first time do reviewers have egg all over their faces.
Yes, #1 is an amazing work for a 19-year old, as is #15 for such a late essay. In between, #3 is the only one I can do without, 2 and 7 I play rarely. 12 is seriously underestimated and there are several fine performances, not least the Haitink. Who'd have thunk flegmatic Bernard could pull this one off so well?
Tue, Mar 26 2013, 8:11AM
#5
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
it's so interesting to see that the Shostakovich's Symphonies become a recurring theme for this forum. I'm also more than glad to generally second Tagalie's post. Eventually, one of the few members in this forum, who still believes that the "12th is seriously underestimated".
By the way, the 15th is a favourite of quite a few conductors, including his son Maxim. It's such an interesting collage of musical material, which, however, works so nicely (almost perfectly) behind the musical lines and beyond its apparent scope.
I strongly believe that each Symphony by the unique Dmitri is a gem, at least in its own merits, while some of them are already modern Classics.
Parla
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 12:21AM
#6
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
The 12th is like watching West Ham play football, rough, noisy, no finesse, no value and ultimately no points, thank god it doesn't last for 90 minutes.
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 2:09AM
#7
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
The 12th is like watching West Ham play football, rough, noisy, no finesse, no value and ultimately no points, thank god it doesn't last for 90 minutes.
Boult, in the London premiere in 1962 with the BBC Symphony, brought it in at 34 minutes. While I have no other recording to compare this with, I find this to be a very enjoyable performance. It would be interesting to compare it with its Western premiere at the Edinburgh Festival earlier in the year conducted by Rozhdestvensky. It's available on BBC Legends. He is slower than Boult in the 3rd & 4th movements. One review I read said the performance was not very good. Anybody have the CD?
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 6:14AM
#8
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
I don't have the BBC legends recording, but I can firmly recommend three more recent and superbly recorded Shostakovich's 12th:
-Petrenko, on Naxos, in only 36 minutes approx.
-Wigglesworth, on BIS (SACD), in about 37 minutes and
-Kitaenko, on Capriccio (in magnificently detailed and analytical SACD recording), in a slower 42 minutes approx.
Parla
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 2:11PM
#9
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
Barshai (Brilliant Classics) clocks the 12th in 37 minutes, Rostropovich (Teldec) needs a bit under 41 minutes.
I listened to the 4th on my way to work and back today - the legendary 1962 Kondrashin recording - and it made me think: 1961 was the year both the 4th and the 12th had their premieres. The contrast between the 4th (an early masterpiece) and the 12th (one of his weakest compositions) must have been shocking for his contemporaries.
1961 was also the year of Shostakovich' weakest string quartet (imo), the 8th - which inexplicably and regrettably also became his most popular, probably because as an example of blatant, extravert soviet realism it's miles apart from the intimate, personal world of the other quartets.
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 2:06PM
#10
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
The 12th is better the quicker it is done, under a minute would be ideal, around 60 seconds under a minute. Does anyone really listen to this mechanically churned out communist film music, apart from Gordon Brown.
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 2:14PM
#11
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
The 12th is better the quicker it is done, under a minute would be ideal, around 60 seconds under a minute. Does anyone really listen to this mechanically churned out communist film music, apart from Gordon Brown.
I think "weak pieces that only keep getting performed because they're part of a cycle and everyone is obsessed with completeness nowadays" would be a nice subject for a new thread...
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 6:48PM
#12
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
To understand the 12th surely you have to look no further than Shostakovitch's love for Mahler and Mahler's belief that the symphony should contain the whole world. Banality and all. He didn't want to write the 4th fifteen times and sound like Allan Pettersson, for ever on the verge of opening his wrists. The 12th is part of the whole man.
I just listened, or tried, to Petrenko's 10th, perhaps a fine performance but a recording that sounds like the early days of cd. On two different systems or on headphones it's still as bad, woodwinds and high strings that would shatter glass at normal volume, a gutless soundstage if you notch it back. What a pity.
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 8:08PM
#13
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
Shostakovich's 3rd, 7th, 11th and 12th symphonies are music to watch tanks drive passed to.
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 9:35PM
#14
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No? RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
Listened earlier to 12th, which as Parla says is surely pure unaldulterated Shostakovich, from Mravinsky/Lenningrad. Absolutely electrifying terrific almost frightening performance.
Although I don't have a modern recording I often think Shostakovich needs the somewhat wild & raucous performances from Soviet era orchestras with their unique sound; braying brass & euphonium like horns.
Seems Parla thinks Petrenko superbly recorded, Tagalie the opposite. I wondered whether to get it: anyone else got a verdict on it?
Wed, Mar 27 2013, 9:57PM
#15
RE: Shostakovitch Symphony No?
You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd.
Absolutely agree! Nr10 is something that should be in your scope! You might be pleasantly surprised by Shostokovich symphony Nr1. it is fresh and young always. At least for me!
Regards,
Symphonic Orchestra Conductor