BaL 11.11.17 - Shostakovich: Symphony no. 11 (The Year 1905)

[richardfinegold]

I haven't listened to this BaL as yet but I'm not sure that the highest of Hi-Fi sound is something that I would necessarily be looking for in a library choice of this work. Nor, all things considered, would I be expecting the Shostakovich pedigree of the Berliners to immediately grab my attention (a fine 10th with HvK notwithstanding).

The Bychkov/WDR recording is on my shelves, as is the Haitink, but for a library choice the formidable claims of Mravinsky, Kondrashin and Rozhdestvensky, despite obvious sonic limitations, can't be lightly dismissed.

For anyone who wants it, the Bychkov/BPO is available as a Presto CD.

Sonics shouldn’t be the first consideration most of the time, but in this work, where the atmosphere is the message, great Sonics are crucial. Haven’t heard the Wainer, but the Kitaenko, in SACD, is truly stunning.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Would be good to have Sondergard's 2013 Prom of the 11th as a BBC MM disc. Any chance, I wonder?

Not impossible, but probably unlikely, mahlerei - as LMP pointed out in #70, there's already been a BBCMusMag cover CD of the Eleventh as (fairly) recently as September 2009.

[cloughie]

Bournemouth SO Karabits.

[visualnickmos]

Bournemouth SO Karabits.

Excellent!

[BBMmk2]

For those who may think the Wigglesworth is all about superb sonics, I'd say the performance is, without doubt, one of the finest I've heard in recent years. Indeed, I'd suggest that's true of Wigglesworth's cycle as a whole.

Thanks for that Mahlerie I have a rather soft spot for Wigglesworth, as he was a couple or so years below me at Prep School!

[seabright]

... Would be good to have Sondergard's 2013 Prom of the 11th as a BBC MM disc. Any chance, I wonder?

Why not download it from You Tube and copy it onto a recordable DVD or audio CD-R from there? ... You may want to omit the hand-waving T Service's intro, though it does include film of the composer as well ... ;) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9lo9ZDYuDU&t=2244s

[Nick Armstrong]

My heart also sank when I realised that it was a twofer but I found Gerard McBurney's, if I can be permitted to use the word, "exegesis", on the symphony to be, as Beefy puts it, "scholarly, experienced and so interesting". Exactly. I'm sorry that it wasn't longer as I would have liked more music but I came away from the programme with a new respect for

Completely agree, ditto with antongould and BeefO. I've always rated the piece but emerged from this hour much better informed about it - notably the cumulative meaning of all the songs quoted in it, as well as DSCH's own chorus.

I suppose that hints at a possible criticism of the analysis as a survey of recordings - I thought it was much more informative about the piece than about the range of performances out there, which seemed to shrink rapidly to a shortlist of the favoured few. Then again, he did explain that by saying that the majority were let down by inadequate recordings, especially of the bass range of the instrumentation (some "disgusting" recordings, he said - strong word).

But I found it an absorbing listen, and the 'dialogue' format didn't intrude too much, largely because Gerard McBurney's articulate knowledge and confidence seemed to silence Andrew McGregor more than usual.

The Wigglesworth performance and recording on the Qobuz HiRes stream is electrifying!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Completely agree, ditto with antongould and BeefO. I've always rated the piece but emerged from this hour much better informed about it - notably the cumulative meaning of all the songs quoted in it, as well as DSCH's own chorus.

I suppose that hints at a possible criticism of the analysis as a survey of recordings - I thought it was much more informative about the piece than about the range of performances out there, which seemed to shrink rapidly to a shortlist of the favoured few. Then again, he did explain that by saying that the majority were let down by inadequate recordings, especially of the bass range of the instrumentation (some "disgusting" recordings, he said - strong word).

But I found it an absorbing listen, and the 'dialogue' format didn't intrude too much, largely because Gerard McBurney's articulate knowledge and confidence seemed to silence Andrew McGregor more than usual.

Yes - I know much more about the work after hearing the BaL (although - this being me, you understand - I would also have liked a mention or two of things like Key relationships - this being a Symphony and all that) and I've put the three "finalists" on my Wish List, with BPO/Bychkov at the top.

But, I'm afraid I did find that the amiable enthusings of Noddy McGregor got in the way of McBurney's excellent discussion; not least at the point where it sounded as if GMcB dropped his notes off the table, and when he stumbled (twice!) over a Russian song title. Neither would have happened if he'd been allowed to prepare his comments in detail - without having to worry about what (and when) AMcG was going to interrupt him. Nor did I think that the litany of "Yes that is good, isn't it?" and "But what about ... " comments from AMcG made up at all for the lost examples of "disgusting" recordings, or the ability to make exact comparisons of the same extract from different recordings.

Heigh-ho!

[BBMmk2]

Glad people liked Wigglesworth's recording!

[ucanseetheend]

Am I the only one who doesnt like the 2 way conversation in Building a Library? Its this fashion in todays style of presenting having someone to "bounce opinions off each other" it actually highlights the weakness of a reviewer unable to write a complete review of selections and present it all in a coherent enjoyable way .

[ucanseetheend]

I witnessed Wigglesworth series of a selection of Shostakovich symphonies in the 1990s with BBC NOW and they were great. Sad when he left and infact I have rarely been back to St Davids Hall since. Wigglesworth 20th Century music with the Welsh band there was of an extremely high standard.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Am I the only one who doesnt like the 2 way conversation in Building a Library?

No.

Its this fashion in todays style of presenting having someone to "bounce opinions off each other" it actually highlights the weakness of a reviewer unable to write a complete review of selections and present it all in a coherent enjoyable way .

Well, it might do for some reviewers, but certainly not GMcB, who has a long (over twenty years) and distinguished record of writing and presenting coherent, enjoyable, and informative reviews. The weakness of the format here, I felt, was that it meant that the flow of his review was continually interrupted by the not-very-helpful counter-contributions.

[mahlerei]

Why not download it from You Tube and copy it onto a recordable DVD or audio CD-R from there? ... You may want to omit the hand-waving T Service's intro, though it does include film of the composer as well ... ;) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9lo9ZDYuDU&t=2244s

Recorded it at the time - and very pleased I did :)

[teamsaint]

An excellent BaL. I learned a lot about the work, and about some top recordings , more or less as much as one can hope for within the constraints of time. Much enhanced by McBurney's modest approach .

[seabright]

Am I the only one who doesnt like the 2 way conversation in Building a Library? Its this fashion in todays style of presenting having someone to "bounce opinions off each other" it actually highlights the weakness of a reviewer unable to write a complete review of selections and present it all in a coherent enjoyable way .

I'm with those who didn't care for the 2-way BAL either. As a matter of fact, I think the time has come for Record Review to be re-titled The Andrew McGregor Show, as he clearly has a life-time contract to present the whole 3-hour programme, select the recordings to be played and express his own opinions on them. In addition, he can butt in whenever he feels like it, as on the Shostakovich BAL, thus reducing the time for musical examples of quite a few other excellent recordings that would have been deserving of a mention. I felt all the way through that Gerard McB could have done perfectly well on his own without all the interruptions from you-know-who. Still, others here clearly feel differently, so it's the usual case of "you can't please everyone all the time"!