Favourite one-off Shostakovich symphony recordings

[french frank]

CRICKET well that’s tricky [...]

Amazing what you can find when you look (I was going to suggest Josquin, El Grillo):

https://www.cantabile.com/new-page-2

[Barbirollians]

I see I also forgot the Efrem Kurtz no 1 long coupled with Projofiev’s classical symphony.

[gradus]

I 've always liked the Stokowski recording of no.5 with the New York Phil. performing as the NY Stadium Symphony.

[HighlandDougie]

I don’t think the Maxim Shostakovich 15 has had a mention? Surreally recorded (the string polyrhythms in the first movement have a bizarre halo) and with a particular despondency I haven’t heard anyone else get anywhere near. There are LP copies still floating about, or you might get lucky and find the mixed Melodiya set from a few years ago at a non-hilarious price.

Dear God, I see what you mean. Were it not for the fact that the Maxim Shostakovich 15th is otherwise unavailable as a physical CD, I might be tempted to auction my copy on eBay. I also have the box as a download from Qobuz - no longer available - which cost some ludicrously small sum, so maybe I should just burn the 15th to CD and flog the box. I'm no great fan of the 11th so wouldn't greatly miss the Ivanov.

[oliver sudden]

Dear God, I see what you mean. Were it not for the fact that the Maxim Shostakovich 15th is otherwise unavailable as a physical CD, I might be tempted to auction my copy on eBay. I also have the box as a download from Qobuz - no longer available - which cost some ludicrously small sum, so maybe I should just burn the 15th to CD and flog the box. I'm no great fan of the 11th so wouldn't greatly miss the Ivanov.

I have the 15th on LP, and in any case given the price of the Melodiya box (and the fact that I already have most of it) youtube is more or less an adequate substitute

[Roslynmuse]

Amazing what you can find when you look (I was going to suggest Josquin, El Grillo):



https://www.cantabile.com/new-page-2

Amazing!

I also thought of Constant Lambert's Prize-Fight...

Re Efrem Kurtz No 1 - was that on CfP back in the 70s? I seem to recall hearing the Shostakovich/Prokofiev coupling.

[Pulcinella]

Amazing!

I also thought of Constant Lambert's Prize-Fight...

Re Efrem Kurtz No 1 - was that on CfP back in the 70s? I seem to recall hearing the Shostakovich/Prokofiev coupling.

Yes: CfP.

https://www.discogs.com/release/5620531-Prokofiev-Shostakovitch-Efrem-KurtzPhilharmonia-Orchestra-Classical-Symphony-Symphony-No-1-

[richardfinegold]

Amazing!

I also thought of Constant Lambert's Prize-Fight...

Re Efrem Kurtz No 1 - was that on CfP back in the 70s? I seem to recall hearing the Shostakovich/Prokofiev coupling.

The Kurtz Classical Symphony here was on EMI budget label and was coupled with Peter and The Wolf. I never saw the Shostakovich

[richardfinegold]

The Telarc label had a pairing of 1/15 with the Cincinnati SO led by Jesus Lopez Corbos that I still spin. The Orchestra, performance, and recording quality are all superb. I’ve seen used copies at reasonable prices

[Nick Armstrong]

Music was just a routine of vaguely-dreaded piano lessons and quite amusing concert band rehearsals until in the mid-1970s, a school friend (Harry Saunders RIP) lent me this LP



- the gateway, for me.

Still a favourite, on its own terms as well as for personal reasons.

[smittims]

Glad to hear that Ormandy 15th has other admirers beside myself. It was recorded in quadraphonic, incidentally.

Not everyone knows that the Vienna Philharmonic recorded Shostakovitch's 5th twice, under Sivestri, in the 1950s, and Mariss Jansons on CD. It's not inappropriate: for all its thrills and drama, it is at heart a very lyrical symphony.

[cloughie]

Glad to hear that Ormandy 15th has other admirers beside myself. It was recorded in quadraphonic, incidentally.

Not everyone knows that the Vienna Philharmonic recorded Shostakovitch's 5th twice, under Sivestri, in the 1950s, and Mariss Jansons on CD. It's not inappropriate: for all its thrills and drama, it is at heart a very lyrical symphony.

…and a Mahlerian feeling which Stalin wasn’t too keen on!

[Petrushka]

Glad to hear that Ormandy 15th has other admirers beside myself. It was recorded in quadraphonic, incidentally.

Not everyone knows that the Vienna Philharmonic recorded Shostakovitch's 5th twice, under Sivestri, in the 1950s, and Mariss Jansons on CD. It's not inappropriate: for all its thrills and drama, it is at heart a very lyrical symphony.

There's actually a third VPO recording of the DSCH 5: a live recording with Sir Georg Solti in 1990.

[smittims]

Thanks; I hadn't heard of that. It's hard for me to imagine Solti conducting Shostakovitch, but since Bartok's music finds him at his best, it should be good.

[richardfinegold]

…and a Mahlerian feeling which Stalin wasn’t too keen on!

I thought Stalin liked his 5th and canceled the ticket that he had punched his DSCH vacation in the Arctic Circle