Shostakovich Symphonies

[Bryn]

Well, for a start I would guess that jlw has heard the work as conducted by Sir Edward Downes a few times, and that's a hard act to follow.

I am somewhat shocked to find that there is currently no commercial recording of Downes conducting the Leningrad in the catalogue. I felt sure there must be a BBC sourced issue out there. The last time one was broadcast Radio 3's top data rate was 192kbps mp3 via the iPlayer. A rebroadcast of one of the several they must have in the archive would be most welcome.

[Ferretfancy]

No mention yet of the Barshai set with the Bavarian RSO. His performance of the Leningrad is one of the few that are really musically convincing in what for me is probably the most problematic of the symphonies. This set is a real bargain, even if I would still advocate looking for the best performances from a variety of sources.

How about Rozhdestvensky in No. 4 ? I have it on an Olympia CD coupled with a delightfully upfront Jazz Suite No. 1 The recording of the symphony is very "Melodiya" but the final bars have a wonderful feeling of exhaustion, the slowest performance of that wonderful ending that I know. Most versions seem just a shade too fast, but not here.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

No mention yet of the Barshai set with the Bavarian RSO.

Is this a different set from that with the WDR SO mentioned by BoD in #42 and Anna (#68), Ff?

[Bryn]

I have the DVD of Rozhdestvensky's 1978 Prom performance of the 4th with the BBCSO. Unfortunately the producers did not bother to use Radio 3's stereo sound for the issue, so it is only in mono. It's worth hearing for Rozhdestvensky's rather different take on the work.

[Simon B]

Having been to three of the Downes/BBCPO Leningrads in Manchester over the years I can't disagree with Bryn's earlier comments. It is rather surprising that one of these (preferrably the ?Jan/98 performance for its better recording and more aggressive percussion rather than the ?Jun/04 that was rebroadcast during R3's week of tributes to the much-missed conductor) hasn't been put out on a BBCMM disc at the least.

Re the upcoming Petrenko/RLPO performances - I went to a previous performance they gave in Liverpool early in Petrenko's time, maybe 5 years ago. As far as I can recall, Petrenko's interpretation had many of the virtues of Downes' - little in the way of superficial manipulation and striving for effect, tension largely maintained throughout and traversal of an arc which finally justified a conclusion of almost menacingly roaring power. The past is no guarantee of future performance of course, but I had no hesitation in booking for the performance on the 19th. Will R3 be there I wonder? The concept of trying to mentally process the sonic battering of moments of this piece at 3pm on a Sunday (or any time before about 8pm) is complete anathema to me so I'll be giving the Sunday afternoon repeat performance a wide berth!

As a more general point, the 7th is often cited as being one of the "weak"/"problem" symphonies. I'd contend it's just that it's too often performed inadequately.

On a largely unrelated note, I'm currently reading Testimony for the first time myself. There's a certain appropriateness to the controversy over the provenance of some or all of it. That the reader doesn't know quite what to believe (let alone how to unpick the layers of meaning of much of the actual text) is a fascinating parallel with the music. Definitive undefinitiveness as ever in Shostakovich...

[Stanley Stewart]

Indeed, Simon B, the Leningrad Symphony will also be broadcast "Live" on R3, 19 Jan. An instant diary note for me.

[3rd Viennese School]

DSCH 15 is my fave. Maybe cause it was the first symphony that I half explored. Maybe cause I heard it in 2 halves, in October and December 1997. And when I heard the 2nd half (wonder what happens later on?) it just sounded so unexpected and unusual! Ending with tubular bells etc.
15 seems to have lots in it- the usual DSCH Romantic Symphony layout, irony, i12 note rows, tonal music (symphony is in A major), quotations from all his previous symphonies plus other works, modern 1970’s music with odd instruments and sonorities. Still finding out things about this symphony to this day!
What can put people off is the opposite to normal layout- 1st mvt bright and silly and the rest of the symphony dark and depressing.

The others.10 is good- often described as the best one. My 2nd fave. A grown up version of 5 and 8. Mvt 1 seems to relate to Tchaikovsky 6. And of course the DSCH motif!

Messageboaders here go with no.4 which is a huge, loud work, a bit rough but has all the hallmarks of his later music. And half way through mvt 1 you get the tune going faster and louder then crash bang wallop then all quieter, thus being the template for no.5,7 ,8,10 etc. Highly recommended.

8 is good. I enjoy this one. Its recommended it is. Better than 5 or 7. 5 and 7 have good first mvts that I return to again and again but I do get a bit of disappointment in the later mvts.

6 is a hidden gem, maybe sounding nothing like a symphony but really good music.

13 is easier to get into than you think. It’s dark but once again in the language of a big romantic symphony. The singing, in this case, doesn’t prevent it from sounding like a symphony. Once again recommended.

11 and 12 are good fun. They are long programme symphonies. 11 is good if you have a spare couple of hours. This depicts machine gun fire in the middle. And Swan lake.
12 has an exciting Allegro 1st mvt (for a change!), a dark slow mvt and a scherzo without a break which is so quiet you cant hear it and sound ominous then the recap is crash bang wallop leading into the finale. It’s good except for the finale which has a terrible ending, although not as terrible as 5.

1 is half the length of the bigger one and sounds hurried and sudden loud climaxes that he rushes into it. Quite a colourful first mvt giving no indication of the darker slow mvt and finale yet to come. Very inventive for an 18 year old.

9- hmmm, yes.

2 probably contains some of the most modern music in DSCH- an experimental early work. It has some rather unusual music in it. If you fancy a change you can listen to this.

3- Longer than 2 but not quite as modern. But exciting in places, loud etc. good fun if you fancy a change.

14- I would listen to this last if I was you!

3VS

[BBMmk2]

No mention yet of the Barshai set with the Bavarian RSO. His performance of the Leningrad is one of the few that are really musically convincing in what for me is probably the most problematic of the symphonies. This set is a real bargain, even if I would still advocate looking for the best performances from a variety of sources.

How about Rozhdestvensky in No. 4 ? I have it on an Olympia CD coupled with a delightfully upfront Jazz Suite No. 1 The recording of the symphony is very "Melodiya" but the final bars have a wonderful feeling of exhaustion, the slowest performance of that wonderful ending that I know. Most versions seem just a shade too fast, but not here.

I think I mentioned that earlier on Petrushka! As i have that set to! yes brilliant account of the 7th!

[Chris Newman]

In the latest (February 2012) BBCMM Erik Levi cascades high praise upon a new RCO recording of DSCH 15 conducted by Bernard Haitink. For many of us Sir Bernard's recording from the 70s has ruled the roost. Levi says whilst being slower this March 2010 version "eschews some of the grotesque character implied in the toyshop music of the first movement" is darker, probes deeper and the RCO deliver "sensationally taut playing....with such razor-sharp precision.
(RCOLive RCO 11003)

[Nick Armstrong]

DSCH 15 is my fave. Maybe cause it was the first symphony that I half explored. Maybe cause I heard it in 2 halves, in October and December 1997. And when I heard the 2nd half (wonder what happens later on?) it just sounded so unexpected and unusual! Ending with tubular bells etc.
15 seems to have lots in it- the usual DSCH Romantic Symphony layout, irony, i12 note rows, tonal music (symphony is in A major), quotations from all his previous symphonies plus other works, modern 1970’s music with odd instruments and sonorities. Still finding out things about this symphony to this day!
What can put people off is the opposite to normal layout- 1st mvt bright and silly and the rest of the symphony dark and depressing.

6 is a hidden gem, maybe sounding nothing like a symphony but really good music.

Yes, young 3VS and I share a passion for No 15...

I agree (the circus music is at the start of No 15 whereas it's the last movement of no 6)... except not all of the rest of 15 is dark and depressing! The main theme of the last movement! the ending! Neither dark nor depressing!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Haitink/RCO #15 is "Disc of the Week" on Saturday's CD Review

[Nick Armstrong]

The Haitink/RCO #15 is "Disc of the Week" on Saturday's CD Review

[Petrushka]

Has anyone catalogued all the quotations in the 15th? I know that Gerard McBurney has pointed out that Shostakovich quotes from every one of his symphonies but I can't manage to spot more than one or two and while the Wagner and Rossini quotes are obvious I'd like to have a full timed list of them all. My feeling is that there are more buried away than we know eg Mussorgsky or popular songs.

Anyone?

[jayne lee wilson]

The apprehension is entirely due to the possibility of extreme emotional and aural responses!

Yes Bryn, I did indeed hear Edward Downes conduct the "Leningrad" several times; it was his performances (one of which - 1994 I think, which I taped off air, the first recording I ever had of it) that inspired my deep love of the piece.

I too was at the 5 October 2006 Petrenko performance that Simon B recalls. It was devastating. As we took our seats in the circle, I looked straight across at the top row of the choir stalls and saw those ten extra players of the heavy brass, their instruments glinting, like a firing squad polishing their guns before an execution... "uh-oh..." I thought.

As Petrushka said about his numinous moments, at the height of the 1st movement you are in the middle of a tornado... the climax is so overwhelming - it is surely, after all the relentless, mechanistic horror of the march, an anguished requiem for the Russian dead.

I've never had a problem with the piece; apart from its sheer impact ("apart from...?" As if...) it seems to me one of his most melodically inspired (OK, finale a little less so) and structurally well-integrated. I kept away from it when I was discovering DSCH in the 70s just because of all the ill-informed critical comments about it. What a shock I got later.

I also feel that Bartok's parody of the 1st movement in his Concerto for Orchestra was misconceived. Did he fail to see the irony and mockery of militaristic power and bombast in the music itself? Talk about "taking out of context"...

I should think Petrenko's 'Leningrad', would be just up his street? Why the aprehension?

[Bryn]

I also feel that Bartok's parody of the 1st movement in his Concerto for Orchestra was misconceived. Did he fail to see the irony and mockery of militaristic power and bombast in the music itself? Talk about "taking out of context"...

Ah, but how sure can we be that Bartok was parodying Shostakovich rather than, as the latter was, Hitler's favourite Lehar melody?