Shostakovich Symphonies

[Ferretfancy]

Does anyone remember the performance of the 13th Symphony at the Proms back in the 1960's, at which Yevtushenko recited his own Babi Yar? I was there, but I don't remember the performance itself. I do have a clear mental image of the poet standing tall on the Albert Hall platform. This was at a time when I really had only heard the 5th and 10th, so the music probably didn't register as it should have done. It's been a great journey of discovery since then.

[ahinton]

As a life-long listener to DSCH symphonies - my first was the 10th on the old Heliodor LP label back in the 60's - I'd suggest the following in order:

5
10
1
6
7
8
9
11
12
now comes the tricky bit: -
13 and 14 are pretty dark and for me less interesting primarily because of the inclusion of the Russian voice - others may disagree.
15 is quirky but remains a favourite of mine primarily because I was at the RFH at the UK premiere with DSCH in attendance.
Which leaves us with numbers 2 and 3. I
I don't know if I'd call them weak but having listened to them a couple of times I have never felt the need to revisit. I think the beginning of no.2 is so ppp that I thought I had a duff LP and it was just playing silence.

Interesting that the only one you omit to mention here is 4...

[johnb]

As a life-long listener to DSCH symphonies - my first was the 10th on the old Heliodor LP label back in the 60's - I'd suggest the following in order:

5
10
1
6
7
8
9
11
12
now comes the tricky bit: -
13 and 14 are pretty dark and for me less interesting primarily because of the inclusion of the Russian voice - others may disagree.
15 is quirky but remains a favourite of mine primarily because I was at the RFH at the UK premiere with DSCH in attendance.
Which leaves us with numbers 2 and 3. I don't know if I'd call them weak but having listened to them a couple of times I have never felt the need to revisit. I think the beginning of no.2 is so ppp that I thought I had a duff LP and it was just playing silence.

To be honest, I think one's personal ideal order of encounter is just that - something personal and not necessarily universal. (Perhaps that is just my bolshie nature revealing itself though.)

There is a lot to be said for listening to them in sequence, especially if one also reads about Shostakovich's life, the events and the cultural and political atmospheres in the USSR at the time the pieces were written. (Even the 2nd and 3rd seem to slot into place, even though they are odd balls.) If one does that the 15th becomes an extremely moving valedictory work, closing with a quotation from his 4th which, of course, was suppressed when Shostakovich seriously fell out of favour during one of Stalin's purges and (the orchestral version) only saw the light of day after 25 years, thanks to Kondrashin.

[jayne lee wilson]

Absolutely, yes - it's a triumph of the remasterer's art. See David Gutman's review in the 4/2007 edition of Gramophone. Incidentally, I found the packaging flimsy too, but more amusingly eccentric than anything else! Each disc comes in its own stiff cardboard case with a different abstract engraving by various Russian artists. Don't worry about his comment on the 9th's ending , it's well managed and doesn't cut off too abruptly - it just lacks the final reverberation.

I feel the Aulos set is marginally finer still (there's a review of it, and the Melodiya, on MusicWeb somewhere); whilst transferred at lower-level it is a little sweeter with those shrieking winds and just a little more highly resolved; but there's not much in it, and the slightly greater audibility of hiss and other noise on the Melodiya suggests they've left little out!

"The New Shostakovich" by Ian MacDonald is quite brilliant at linking the music to the history of Russia in the 20th C; there's an especially fine, and terrifying, chapter on Stalin's Great Terror 1935-38.

Jayne, I have the original CD issue of the Kondrashin symphonies which came in an enormous door-stopper of a box and cost me, if I remember correctly, £70. Would you recommend I get the 2006 Melodiya reissue? Is the difference enough for me to purchase a replacement set?

[jayne lee wilson]

Post scriptum to message 34, I just compared the opening of the 9th on both these sets, and the differences are a little more obvious than I recalled: the Aulos more precisely 3-dimensional (especially as regards positions of the woodwinds) with a more present acoustic, and yes, that bit more refined - more light and shade - the higher level climaxes even more resolved and easier on the ear than the Melodiya; if you ever find it, buy it!

[BBMmk2]

I first heard, or one of the early hearings, of this work was with haitink and the LPO. You could hear gasps from the audience at various points in DS's 4th, usually at the louder passages, but it was certainly a 'classic' performance of this work.

[Auferstehen2]

I really don’t wish at this early stage to presume ANYTHING at all, nor to be close-minded (I’ve always loved that definition of close-mindedness as someone who can see through a keyhole with both eyes), but Petrushka’s comment in Message 29 is extraordinary – DSCH is to the C20 what LVB was to the C19? How can I disbelieve him since (as yet) I know so little of DSCH’s music? You must nevertheless allow me (as an ardent Beethovenian) a small gasp at first hearing this comment, so



As for FHG’s message 24, it may be a while yet when I can enlighten you on DSCH!!!

Just finished hearing the First symphony for a few times, and I’m pleasantly surprised. No atonal difficulties, no confusing dissonances, no sadness-laden, barren-landscape paintings, no war reflections, just simple music which speaks simply. A graduation work written at 19?

So far, very impressive!

Mario

[rauschwerk]

I never cease to me amazed by the incredibly wide knowledge some contributors have. Did they start listening to this stuff before learning how to walk, or am I particularly slow?

In the late 1950s my father returned from an overseas tour of duty with a pile of LPs including Shostakovich 5. This became essential listening for me during my early teens. I got acquainted with other Shostakovich symphonies over the next few years from Prom performances and BBC broadcasts, many of them (Nos. 1,4,6,9,10) conducted by Sargent - a great advocate of Shostakovich when little of his music was available in non-Soviet recordings (see Proms archive).

[Auferstehen2]

I would suspect, if my past experiences with him is anything to go by, that Mravinsky would do serious justice to DSCH - how many of his symphonies did he record, can anyone tell me please?

I shall get them all.

Mario

[Richard Tarleton]

15 is quirky but remains a favourite of mine primarily because I was at the RFH at the UK premiere with DSCH in attendance.

As was I, BoD - what a night, with Oistrach playing the 2nd Violin concerto in the first half, and Maxim Shostakovich conducting. A tense couple of concerts (Oistrach had also played the night before under Svetlanov, the Prokoviev 1st violin concerto, encoring the middle movement, and there had been a noisy demonstration on behalf of Soviet Jewish prisoners in the interval - there was fairly heavy security at the RFH both nights). Happily there was no disruption during the concert that Shostakovich attended.

This came at a time of poor Anglo-Soviet relations - the previous year the UK government had expelled 103 Soviet diplomats as spies, and as a result a planned visit by Oistrach had been cancelled.

For an insight into the lives of Soviet musicians at this time, Mario, try "Stormy Applause" by Rostislav Dubinsky, the first leader of the Borodin Quartet - lots about Shostakovich in it. You can track copies down on Amazon or AbeBooks.

I've got the original Borodins' recordings of string quartets 1-13 (when Dubinsky left for America), and the complete St Petersburg Quartet set which was a giveaway on Hyperion. The Fitzwilliams (who still include one of the lineup who worked with Shostakovich) played one of the quartets in Swansea a year or so ago.

[Dave2002]

Message 8 – visualnickmos, why on earth would I consider it impolite if you ask where I bought it from? I’d be only too pleased to help. HMV in Oxford St is the answer. I’m afraid I cannot remember the price, but I don’t recall being shocked by the amount – maybe ten quid or so?

Regards to all,

Mario

Interesting about Ormandy 10. Currently I can only see it coupled with 4 on Sony Essential Classics from 2002 (2 CDs). One seller on Amazon market place has it at a highish, but at least affordable price - around £15. Others are much more expensive. I remember reading a review of Ormandy's 4th when it came out. Not sure if it was the first recording, but almost certainly the first in the UK and USA. If Mario has only the 10th that suggests a new reissue. Too many things are now going to downloads, so could be worth looking out for both/either of these Ormandy symphonies.

[Bax-of-Delights]

Interesting that the only one you omit to mention here is 4...

Doh!

In fact no 4 is one of my favourites and picked up the Ormandy first recording on LP very soon after is was issued. The closing passage of the final movement stills has immense power after innumerable hearings.

A few years ago I picked up a complete set of the symphonies from of all places, Superdrug. I think I was tipped off by a message on the old R3 message board. It was £15.00 and has Barshai conducting the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

[Bax-of-Delights]

As was I, BoD - what a night, with Oistrach playing the 2nd Violin concerto in the first half, and Maxim Shostakovich conducting. A tense couple of concerts (Oistrach had also played the night before under Svetlanov, the Prokoviev 1st violin concerto, encoring the middle movement, and there had been a noisy demonstration on behalf of Soviet Jewish prisoners in the interval - there was fairly heavy security at the RFH both nights). Happily there was no disruption during the concert that Shostakovich attended.

This came at a time of poor Anglo-Soviet relations - the previous year the UK government had expelled 103 Soviet diplomats as spies, and as a result a planned visit by Oistrach had been cancelled.

For an insight into the lives of Soviet musicians at this time, Mario, try "Stormy Applause" by Rostislav Dubinsky, the first leader of the Borodin Quartet - lots about Shostakovich in it. You can track copies down on Amazon or AbeBooks.

I've got the original Borodins' recordings of string quartets 1-13 (when Dubinsky left for America), and the complete St Petersburg Quartet set which was a giveaway on Hyperion. The Fitzwilliams (who still include one of the lineup who worked with Shostakovich) played one of the quartets in Swansea a year or so ago.

Richard:
Intriguing. I bumped into another Richard I knew at that DSCH 15th concert at RFS. Surely not one and the same?
You didn't work for a publisher in the early 70's by any chance?

[Nick Armstrong]

15 is quirky but remains a favourite of mine primarily because I was at the RFH at the UK premiere with DSCH in attendance.

As was I, BoD - what a night, with Oistrach playing the 2nd Violin concerto in the first half, and Maxim Shostakovich conducting.

I'm almost unspeakably envious of both of you !

My only comeback, BoD, is that my WDR/Barshai box from Superdrug cost me £2.50...

[Auferstehen2]

If I may help visualnickmos track down a copy of the Ormandy 10^th…

I’ve just retrieved my own CD, and the actual CD says Esprit (www.espritclassics.com) and outside, on the box it says Sony BMG Home Entertainment. Eugene Ormandy is conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra and I only have Symphony No 10 in E min Op 93 on the CD number 88 69 72 92 472. Not the most helpful of booklets, it also says ℗ 1963, 1970 Sony etc.

Presumably this was recorded in 1963, then?

Hope this helps,

Mario