25/9/14 - BBC SSO Shostakovich 10

[Flosshilde]

Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain

Scriabin: Piano Concerto

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Barry Douglas (Piano)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles (Conductor)

Did anyone listen to this, the opening concert of the new season? I went for the Shostakovich. I've listened to it on CD but it didn't appeal much, but hearing it live was a different kettle of fish. I thought the horn solos in the 3rd movement were exquisite - wonderfully soft & distant, they could almost have been played offstage. Did you hear it HS; what did you think if you did?

[teamsaint]

Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain

Scriabin: Piano Concerto

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Barry Douglas (Piano)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles (Conductor)

Did anyone listen to this, the opening concert of the new season? I went for the Shostakovich. I've listened to it on CD but it didn't appeal much, but hearing it live was a different kettle of fish. I thought the horn solos in the 3rd movement were exquisite - wonderfully soft & distant, they could almost have been played offstage. Did you hear it HS; what did you think if you did?

Any thoughts on the concerto, Floss ?Heard this on R3 for the first time recently, and was rather impressed.

Sounds a cracking programme.

[Hornspieler]

Any thoughts on the concerto, Floss ?Heard this on R3 for the first time recently, and was rather impressed.

Sounds a cracking programme.

I will listen to it tomorrow.

HS

[Flosshilde]

Any thoughts on the concerto, Floss ?Heard this on R3 for the first time recently, and was rather impressed.

Sorry ts - it made no impression on me at all. I think the idea I have of Scriabin's music is rather more interesting than the reality.

The Mussorgsky was as exciting and lively as you might expect - I haven't heard it live before. It was the Rimsky-Korsakov version, although the programme notes did say that Mussorgsky's original version was being played more. It would be interesting to hear it (perhaps in the same concert as R-K's version), especially without the happy ending R-K added.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Sorry ts - it made no impression on me at all. I think the idea I have of Scriabin's music is rather more interesting than the reality.

Oh! But the Piano Concerto was written when Scriabin hadn't become Scriabin. I think it's a lovely, lyrical work - much preferrable to so many "fistsful and fistfall" barnstorming concertos.

[Flosshilde]

Perhaps I'll have another go.

Incidentally, the broadcast last night was of the Glasgow performance; the Edinburgh one tonight is being recorded for broadcast at a future date. A bit odd, I thought - surely it would be cheaper to record the Glasgow one while it's being broadcast, especially as the City Hall is effectively a BBC Studio & presumably has the neccessary equipment permanently installed?

[richardfinegold]

Any thoughts on the concerto, Floss ?Heard this on R3 for the first time recently, and was rather impressed.

Sounds a cracking programme.

That Scriabin does nothing for me. The rest sounds enticing.

[richardfinegold]

Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain

Scriabin: Piano Concerto

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Barry Douglas (Piano)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles (Conductor)



Did anyone listen to this, the opening concert of the new season? I went for the Shostakovich. I've listened to it on CD but it didn't appeal much, but hearing it live was a different kettle of fish. I thought the horn solos in the 3rd movement were exquisite - wonderfully soft & distant, they could almost have been played offstage. Did you hear it HS; what did you think if you did?

Do you mean that you didn't care for the work (DSCH 10), or for your particular CD? You may surprised to learn that the greatest recording of the Symphony is by Karajan and the Berliners, with an absolutely ferocious Stalin (second) movement.

[Flosshilde]

The CD I have is The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. When I listened to it the symphony didn't take hold - perhaps I didn't give it the chance to do so. Listening in the concert hall was a different matter - either the performance, listening live, or being more focussed on it, or all three. The BBCSSO also have the 5th & 15th programmed, so by the end of the season I'll know whether I like Shostakovich's symphonies or not!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... the greatest recording of the Symphony is by Karajan and the Berliners, with an absolutely ferocious Stalin (second) movement.

It's not my favourite of the Shostakovich symphonies, and so many studio recordings lack the essential tension that the first and third movements need. Both Karajan studio recordings are superb - and I love the way the digital version takes the finale at the metronome mark that Shostakovich gives (and the Music demands). Close, in this respect, to Mravinsky - less well recorded, but an electrical storm of a performance. And then there's Haitink - less explosive in his fireworks (and with the climactic Tamtam "stroke" infuriatingly underplayed) but with a real sense of the work being a Symphony, with balance, proportion as well as drama.

And then, of course, if you want to hear the composer himself applauding a live performance (and you have deep pockets!):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brandenburg-Concerto-Symphony-Karajan-Moscow/dp/B001HWW9XG/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1411800803&sr=1-6&keywords=shostakovich+symphony+10+karajan

[Hornspieler]

Do you mean that you didn't care for the work (DSCH 10), or for your particular CD? You may surprised to learn that the greatest recording of the Symphony is by Karajan and the Berliners, with an absolutely ferocious Stalin (second) movement.

Absolutely agreed, Richard.

For me, DSCH Nº 10 has been sullied by the countless number of Youth Orchestras who try to play this work and can't.

Playing Shostakovitch is a job for professionals (particularly for the strings - you cannot overcome the difficulties by doubling the number of players).

HS

[amateur51]

Absolutely agreed, Richard.

For me, DSCH Nº 10 has been sullied by the countless number of Youth Orchestras who try to play this work and can't.

Playing Shostakovitch is a job for professionals (particularly for the strings - you cannot overcome the difficulties by doubling the number of players).

HS

Are you suggesting that exposure to the apparent inadequacies of a youth orchestra performance can sully your professional view of Shostakovich symphony no.10?

I suggest that you are talking what Peter Brough would have called 'gollocks'

Hey mistah! Leave the kids alone!

[gurnemanz]

Are you suggesting that exposure to the apparent inadequacies of a youth orchestra performance can sully your professional view of Shostakovich symphony no.10?

I suggest that you are talking what Peter Brough would have called 'gollocks'

Hey mistah! Leave the kids alone!

Alan Hansen (different kind of pundit) "You can't win anything with kids". He got that one wrong.

[Barbirollians]

There is a recording of the Scriabin that might persuade one of its merits - Solomon with the Philharmonia and dobrowen .

[richardfinegold]

Absolutely agreed, Richard.

For me, DSCH Nº 10 has been sullied by the countless number of Youth Orchestras who try to play this work and can't.

Playing Shostakovitch is a job for professionals (particularly for the strings - you cannot overcome the difficulties by doubling the number of players).

HS

The first time I heard the work I was in High School. One of my friends who was an aspiring Violinist was playing in a Youth Orchestra affiliated with the Detroit Symphony. They fell apart in the Stalin movement and had to restart. My friend was the Concertmaster and he was livid afterwards, complaining that the work never should have been chosen for a student Orchestra.
We live in different States now but I had called him last weekend for a long chat to catch up. He mentioned that Concert. It still rankles him 40 years later.