Shostakovich Symphony No 13 - 50th anniversary

[EnemyoftheStoat]

And Eine Alpensinfonie is actually Eine Alpentondichtung

[gurnemanz]

Cole Porter's "You're the Tops" contains the slightly surprising line "You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss". Not an obvious composer to choose if alluding to symphonies ... unless you are looking for a rhyme for Mickey Mouse in the next line.

[Byas'd Opinion]

The first version of the 13th I heard was the Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra recording with Tom Krause as soloist, which I think was the first recording of it ever released. They certainly gave the international premiere. Any thoughts on how that stacks up against the competition?

I think it's a very fine work which deserves more performances. It's got some splendid typically Shostakovitch touches in the orchestration, for instance the ominous tolling bell in the opening movement, the tuba solo in the slow movement and the high clarinet in the scherzo.

[Boilk]

I am afraid Shostakovich named this work "Symphony no.13" and therefore it is a symphony [whatever the form]

My three-minute piece for glockenspiel and tuba is called Symphony No.4. And it must be a symphony according Roehr, because I've named it as such.

[makropulos]

My three-minute piece for glockenspiel and tuba is called Symphony No.4. And it must be a symphony according Roehr, because I've named it as such.

Yes, that's right, if you as the composer call it a symphony, then a symphony it is. Where can we hear this masterpiece?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes, that's right, if you as the composer call it a symphony, then a symphony it is.

Exactly.






Doesn't mean it's any good.

[makropulos]

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.

This is by quite a distance my favourite Shostakovich symphony, a work I came to love as a teenager from the Everest (I think?) LP of Kondrashin conducting an early performance. Since then I've acquired several recordings, including the Russian Disc version you mention (extraordinary), Haitink, Masur (with Yevtushenko and the NY Phil) and Solti. I don't think Ormandy's recording has made it onto CD (someone will tell me I'm wrong), though I remember rather liking it on LP.

The firs time I heard it live was at the Festival Hall in the early 1970s with Previn, Shirley-Quirk, LSO and male chorus. I remember it being a stirring performance.

[bluestateprommer]

Found from the blog "On An Overgrown Path" this quote, attributed to Kurt Sanderling, about DSCH, DSCH 13 and Mravinsky:

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2009/08/you-say-mariinsky-i-say-mravinsky.html#!/2009/08/you-say-mariinsky-i-say-mravinsky.html

"The relationship between Shostakovich and Mravinsky is a very difficult subject. There is no doubt that Mravinsky always worshipped Shostakovich. As for Shostakovich, he appreciated Mravinsky more as a marvellous interpreter of his symphonies than a personal friend. I think that in the case of the Thirteenth Symphony, Shostakovich was wrong by arguing that Mravinsky feared the political consequences of the premiere. I don't think so. I rather believe something else: Mravinsky was, in fact, a man of fear. I would argue that he was afraid for the choir and the soloist and the possible problems that might have arisen by their playing this work. This was, in my opinion, a supplementary factor that made his decision not to play the work. I don't think - and I knew him very well - that he was afraid himself of political consequences."

I've had the good fortune to hear DSCH 13 live twice, first with Rostropovich conducting the Chicago Symphony (after playing the Cello Concerto No. 1 in the 1st half with the CSO's then assistant conductor, William Eddins) in 1999, and then in 2003 at Carnegie Hall with Ashkenazy leading the Czech Phil. Yevtushenko was in attendance for the 2003 performance, and gave a reading before the music began. In fact, some doofus in the audience tried to distract the audience and raise a ruckus, but fortunately didn't succeed.

Because of this, I'm actually inclined to trust the Proms archive as to its 1st performance of DSCH 13 not being in the 1960s. It's entirely possible that the performance referred to earlier was at the RAH, but not part of the Proms. This would beg some detective work as to when exactly the London premiere was.

[Ferretfancy]

bluestateprommer

I don't think my memory of Yevtushenko at the Proms is at fault, since I know I was standing in the Arena. If the performance was in the Albert Hall but not a Prom, the Arena space would have had rows of seats. Never mind, the music stands.

[richardfinegold]

Found from the blog "On An Overgrown Path" this quote, attributed to Kurt Sanderling, about DSCH, DSCH 13 and Mravinsky:

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2009/08/you-say-mariinsky-i-say-mravinsky.html#!/2009/08/you-say-mariinsky-i-say-mravinsky.html

I've had the good fortune to hear DSCH 13 live twice, first with Rostropovich conducting the Chicago Symphony (after playing the Cello Concerto No. 1 in the 1st half with the CSO's then assistant conductor, William Eddins) in 1999, and then in 2003 at Carnegie Hall with Ashkenazy leading the Czech Phil. Yevtushenko was in attendance for the 2003 performance, and gave a reading before the music began. In fact, some doofus in the audience tried to distract the audience and raise a ruckus, but fortunately didn't succeed.

Because of this, I'm actually inclined to trust the Proms archive as to its 1st performance of DSCH 13 not being in the 1960s. It's entirely possible that the performance referred to earlier was at the RAH, but not part of the Proms. This would beg some detective work as to when exactly the London premiere was.

Boy, does that jog my fading memory. I was at that CSO concert and had completely forgotten that until I read your post. I remember hearing the radio rebroadcast a few months later and being disappointed by the Symphony. Slava had great charisma and watching him conduct wasn't the same experience as hearing it minus the visual impact.