December 18 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the first performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No 13. That 1962 premiere was the last time that DSCH had major trouble with the Soviet authorities largely on account of Yevtushenko's text of Babi Yar as used in the first movement. Bass soloists refused to take part out of fear for the consequences and even Mravinsky fell out with Shostakovich and did not conduct the premiere. In the end, Vitaly Gromadsky was the bass soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Kondrashin.
I have a recording of the second performance given by the same forces two days later and the tension is palpable. It really is quite extraordinary how powerfully it comes across. The CD was issued on Russian Disc and is a must for any DSCH fan.
Commentators have dubbed the 13th as being Shostakovich's most Russian work and it isn't performed all that often in the West even now. I've been present at just one performance - at the Proms in 2005 with Valery Gergiev.
I'll be playing that second performance on Tuesday night.
I have a recording of the second performance given by the same forces two days later and the tension is palpable. It really is quite extraordinary how powerfully it comes across. The CD was issued on Russian Disc and is a must for any DSCH fan.
Commentators have dubbed the 13th as being Shostakovich's most Russian work and it isn't performed all that often in the West even now. I've been present at just one performance - at the Proms in 2005 with Valery Gergiev.
I'll be playing that second performance on Tuesday night.
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