Shostakovich Symphony No 4

[Barbirollians]

Not sure when this was last in BAL and as it is a little early for Summer BAL I will put this here.

Been listening to the CBSO/Rattle account of this symphony. I think it is one of Rattle's finest recordings of this brave and sadly suppressed symphony and I prefer it to Petrenko . What is your favourite ?

[richardfinegold]

I’ve got the two Haitink recordings. His first was my introduction to piece and I played it extensively. The second was with the Chicago SO and I attended one of the performances utilized. The 2 recordings are remarkably similar and I prefer the earlier for the Decca warmth of sound. I also have both Kitaenko and Barshai with the same Orchestra (Gurzenich, Koln). Barshai is a barrelhouse that broadly speaking, tends to plow through some of the meandering byways, while Kitaenko tends to weave some of the disparate threads into a tapestry that gains power and momentum.
I acquired Kitaenko as an SACD, and it is available as a High Resolution download, and it will blow your socks off sonically. The Barshai is fine sonically (I originally had downloaded his cycle as an Amazon mp3 for about $5 and then bought the box set from Brilliant for probably twice that, but it’s usually the mp3 that I use while driving or traveling).
I recently acquired the Petrenko set after reading the superlative reviews, and I listened to the Fourth twice. I enjoyed it more than Barbs apparently did. This Fourth sounds more like the Composer of the Second and Third in its steel edged modernity, perhaps less elegiac at the end than others who seem to seek the embryo of the secret dissident Shostakovich. It wouldn’t be my basic choice—Haitink I or Kitaenko would get that palm—but an interesting alternative

[Richard Barrett]

I've listened to quite a few recordings of this work and the one I keep returning to is Jansons.

[Barbirollians]

I’ve got the two Haitink recordings. His first was my introduction to piece and I played it extensively. The second was with the Chicago SO and I attended one of the performances utilized. The 2 recordings are remarkably similar and I prefer the earlier for the Decca warmth of sound. I also have both Kitaenko and Barshai with the same Orchestra (Gurzenich, Koln). Barshai is a barrelhouse that broadly speaking, tends to plow through some of the meandering byways, while Kitaenko tends to weave some of the disparate threads into a tapestry that gains power and momentum.
I acquired Kitaenko as an SACD, and it is available as a High Resolution download, and it will blow your socks off sonically. The Barshai is fine sonically (I originally had downloaded his cycle as an Amazon mp3 for about $5 and then bought the box set from Brilliant for probably twice that, but it’s usually the mp3 that I use while driving or traveling).
I recently acquired the Petrenko set after reading the superlative reviews, and I listened to the Fourth twice. I enjoyed it more than Barbs apparently did. This Fourth sounds more like the Composer of the Second and Third in its steel edged modernity, perhaps less elegiac at the end than others who seem to seek the embryo of the secret dissident Shostakovich. It wouldn’t be my basic choice—Haitink I or Kitaenko would get that palm—but an interesting alternative

Don’t get me wrong I think the Petrenko is very good as is Nelsons but Rattle’s recording was my first and though I had not listened to it for a good while it packs a proper punch.

[Petrushka]

Don’t get me wrong I think the Petrenko is very good as is Nelsons but Rattle’s recording was my first and though I had not listened to it for a good while it packs a proper punch.

I agree about the Rattle. I heard him perform it live in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, during the 'Towards the Millennium' series and it certainly packed a punch then. My first recording was the Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy which I purchased in 1976 but it was really the Chicago SO/Previn which blew my socks off when it came out in 1978. I've now got the recording on CD in the Andre Previn Warner box and it's a much underrated performance in thrilling EMI sound.

I wouldn't want to be without Kondrashin's Melodiya recording, the two Haitink performances or Nelsons. As for live performances I've got great memories of Rozhdestvensky in his 1978 BBCSO Prom and the Kirov Orchestra/Gergiev in 2002, another Prom.

[BBMmk2]

I have Barshai, Jansons and Previn. My favourite is with CSO/Previn.