SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 11
More from the Monte Carlo Kreizberg archive
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Dmitri Shostakovich
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: OPM Classics
Magazine Review Date: 08/2012
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: OPMC005
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 11, 'The Year 1905' |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Yakov Kreizberg, Conductor |
Author: Edward Seckerson
One feels that most pointedly in the great eleventh-hour oration of the cor anglais in the finale, where the most pertinent of all the revolutionary songs – ‘Bare your heads!’ – puts aside defiance and quietly mourns the fallen. But so squarely is it phrased here that, far from portending liberation to come, the bar-lines seem to imprison it. And it isn’t just individuals, it’s the collective fervour of the playing that falls short. The eerie calm of the ‘Palace Square’ is atmospherically evoked, with chilling dissonances in the slow-moving chords registering by stealth. But punches are pulled in the really emotive climaxes with, for instance, the solo onslaught of the percussion battery in the ‘Ninth of January’ massacre almost apologetic for its brutal intrusion and the trenchant goose-stepping in the finale immaculate as opposed to menacing.
There can be no doubting Kreizberg’s grasp of this piece – its storm, stress, sweep and ideology. Those revolutionary songs carry a heavy burden and he shares it. But ultimately it’s the difference here between a satisfactory soundtrack to these momentous events and something which truly and overwhelmingly conveys what they meant to those, like Shostakovich, whose lives were impacted by them. But, like the bells at the close of The Year 1905 (too muted here by half), Kreizberg’s memory will resonate on.
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