BaL 11.12.21 - Shostakovich: Symphony no. 7 "Leningrad"

[BBMmk2]

I have, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons (EMI/BRK), and Barshai’s. I wonder which of these will get the accolade?

[Petrushka]

The heading 'blurb', presumably taken from the BBC website, seems to give the impression that the first performance took place in Leningrad, an impression that seems to be the result of an over hasty reading of the Wikipedia entry for this symphony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympho...(Shostakovich).

The first performance was, of course, given in the city of Kuibyshev on March 5 1942 with the first Leningrad performance on August 9 1942.

[Bryn]

The heading 'blurb', presumably taken from the BBC website, seems to give the impression that the first performance took place in Leningrad, an impression that seems to be the result of an over hasty reading of the Wikipedia entry for this symphony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympho...(Shostakovich).

The first performance was, of course, given in the city of Kuibyshev on March 5 1942 with the first Leningrad performance on August 9 1942.

And 2 months after the Leningrad performance, Stockawski conducted it in the desert, as covers in this 1944 Soviet item:

[Ein Heldenleben]

It’s almost impertinent to discuss the “best “recording of this work - as I think Jayne hints . Any performance is a re-affirmation of human resilience . There’s a very good novel - The Conductor - about the circumstances of the first Leningrad performance - the one that really mattered. It seems almost beyond belief that a performance happened. No doubt it wasn’t a very good performance but it was unquestionably the greatest.

[Goon525]

I have, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons (EMI/BRK), and Barshai’s. I wonder which of these will get the accolade?

Not a hope, given that ES is doing the selecting and a Bernstein version is available. Mind you, as it happens, it IS rather a good Bernstein version.

[Bryn]

Not a hope, given that ES is doing the selecting and a Bernstein version is available. Mind you, as it happens, it IS rather a good Bernstein version.

Which Bernstein Leningrad, the New York or the Chicago?

[visualnickmos]

Which Bernstein Leningrad, the New York or the Chicago?

I think it must be the CSo version. Although the NYP is pretty damn good, too!

[Goon525]

I think it must be the CSo version. Although the NYP is pretty damn good, too!

Yes, I meant Chicago.

[Darloboy]

A work that’s only been covered by BaL once previously, in January 1989, when the reviewer was… Edward Seckerson! Does anyone know what he chose?

[RichardB]

Barshai with the same Orchestra is equally riveting

Barshai's recording is with the WDR symphony orchestra, not the Gürzenich. It's one of the very few recordings of this work that I've bothered to listen to, since (with one obvious exception) it seems to me to consist mostly of unmemorable material stretched out in time to breaking point, and I can't understand for the life of me why he thought it had to be so long. Of course it's become "iconic" as a result of the circumstances of its composition and early performance, but for me it doesn't hold a candle to no.8 (let alone nos. 1, 4, 14 and 15). I guess it's possible I haven't heard the right recording to unlock it for me.

[Bryn]

Barshai's recording is with the WDR symphony orchestra, not the Gürzenich. It's one of the very few recordings of this work that I've bothered to listen to, since (with one obvious exception) it seems to me to consist mostly of unmemorable material stretched out in time to breaking point, and I can't understand for the life of me why he thought it had to be so long. Of course it's become "iconic" as a result of the circumstances of its composition and early performance, but for me it doesn't hold a candle to no.8 (let alone nos. 1, 4, 14 and 15). I guess it's possible I haven't heard the right recording to unlock it for me.

Have you heard any of the Downes performances?

[mathias broucek]

A friend and I did a DIY BAL on this and although Bernstein and Chicago is a cliché, there's a reason for that. The string section is stunning in the slow movement and as for the brass in the finale...

But there are other excellent recordings from the likes of P Jarvi, Wigglesworth and Petrenko.

[edashtav]

I like Shostakovich, but...

However, I will listen, because sometimes you find with these BALs you get a breakthrough with a work you can't take.

I, too, am waiting for my Damascene moment, I see and hear the posters but cannot find the road to Leningrad.

[Petrushka]

I, too, am waiting for my Damascene moment, I see and hear the posters but cannot find the road to Leningrad.

I know that Testimony has its detractors but I was much taken with Shostakovich's alleged remarks on this symphony that it owes more for its inspiration to the Psalms of David, especially those that speak of vengeance. There is, for me, little or nothing in the way of triumph in that blazing conclusion but instead a mighty shaking of the fist in a monstrous, massive rage. Looked at this way, it may all fall into place where the 'war' analogy doesn't work. The 8th Symphony is the true 'war' symphony.

[Simon B]

<Personal hobbyhorse mode on>
The recording which matters most (to me, obviously!) isn't on the above list. The closest you can get is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJDR4lLW9c&t=1s.

Unfortunately that one is from 2004 rather than the Jan 1998 performance. In '98, the glorious monster that was the BBC Phil's brass and percussion section of the era were on sensational form not quite matched in '04 given the occasional ensemble lapses etc.

Downes had a remarkable way of bringing inevitability and accumulating tension to works which many other conductors render as noisy moment-by-moment showpieces. Of note is that for several Shostakovich 7s he programmed a first half not of the usual Mozart or whatever enabled the brass to save it/steel themselves in The Britons Protection across the road... but the antithesis: The Pines of Rome. He also made that into an overwhelming yet unsettling experience via the same knack for combining inexorability with sheer sonic weight.

Of the 1000+ concerts/operas I've been to, if I could relive just one, that '98 Downes/BBCPO concert would be in my top 5 candidates. About 30 of that 1,000 featured this work, including a couple in the timps/perc section, an experience in itself. It almost never "works" on a purely musical level IMV, though the extra-musical context must never be forgotten. Too many longeurs, too much bombast. Occasionally however it is conducted by someone like Ted Downes... One of the benchmarks is: Do the closing bars sound like overblown triumph or a blaze of defiant rage? If the latter, you've got somewhere.

As for studio recordings, I've tried a good selection of the above list with the conclusion that: If brevity is your thing, go for Jarvi/RSNO. Had the infamous ostinato theme in the first movement really been meant as a literal depiction of invaders, they must have been on a convenient express train. So fast is it that one section are understandably unable to keep up and fall over themselves for several bars. The failure to fix this in an edit has always puzzled me given that it's a studio recording. This does mean that the whole symphony is just about jammed onto a single CD and adds up to one of the more exciting performances. This however is one of the more specific examples of what Downes got so right - an absolutely steady tempo from the first ppp snare drum entry all the way to the horrifying apotheosis several minutes later. The inexorably ratcheting menace derives entirely from rhythmic tautness, inner tension and articulation and accentuation. No helter-skelter race or dramatic acceleration. In consequence the effect was genuinely disturbing rather than the usual merely impressive racket...

All this amounts to a long-winded plea for someone somewhere to dredge the '98 BBCPO/Downes performance from the BBC archives and make it available in some form.
<End Personal Hobbyhorse mode>