Shostakovich: which one is your favourite amongst his works?

[amateur51]

Never seen that! Must look - unless a link were forthcoming...

Oh you and your big blue eyes ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7MIJSfAPPM

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh you and your big blue eyes ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7MIJSfAPPM

Cheers, bigears! Made me smile a lot!

Reminded me of why I felt like I needed first aid after playing trombone in that - the dozens and dozens of bars of off-beat quavers (brain-mashing to count) and then those fast unison melodic bits involving semi-quavers... nowhere to breathe... fear of playing an extra bar of offbeat quavers fortissimo in a silent bit... fear, pain and oxygen-starvation... What fun! Spasiba, Dmitri Dmitrievich !!

[cocolinmichela]

Listen out for Shostakovich's Prelude to the Gadfly from A Tale of Two Cellos, out Monday, beautiful piece!!!!
It's the prelude, not the popular "romance" which is often played by violinists.

http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DHHRG46

[BBMmk2]

Certainly makes a change from the Romance, Michela. thank you for that link.

I played the Shosta Symphony 15 again yesterday, this time by Haitink. Another great and warm sounding recording.

[cocolinmichela]

Certainly makes a change from the Romance, Michela. thank you for that link.

I played the Shosta Symphony 15 again yesterday, this time by Haitink. Another great and warm sounding recording.

Nice one!
There are lots of interesting pieces on A Tale, particularly the Monteverdi, Hahn, Holst and Piazzolla. Also an Ave Maria by Saint Saens, which makes a nice change from the well known Bach, Schubert, Gounoud, Caccini etc..

[BBMmk2]

Nice one!
There are lots of interesting pieces on A Tale, particularly the Monteverdi, Hahn, Holst and Piazzolla. Also an Ave Maria by Saint Saens, which makes a nice change from the well known Bach, Schubert, Gounoud, Caccini etc..

What piece is that one by Piazolla?

[mathias broucek]

I place 4 and 15 above all else in his symphonic output with 5 and 10 not far behind - but for me it HAS to be the 7th, the Great Symphony of the Siege of Leningrad.
I love it for its melody, its tragedy, its anguish and its joy. That long slow quiet anticipation through the finale, then the plunge into the coda, those almost hysterical string figurations and then - THAT MOMENT, as those snarling firebird fanfares rise, twice, against the tension, bursting for release...

Then I think back over DSCH's most glorious slow movement, the shattering requiem at the height of the first movement's blundering destructiveness... that ashen bassoon among the ruins... the broad sunlit landscape of the very beginning...
oh yes, it just has to be the 7th.

So glad it's not just me! What's your favourite recording?

[Petrushka]

So glad it's not just me! What's your favourite recording?

I'm as big a fan of the 7th as JLW and there are plenty of versions on my heaving shelves. However, the recording that does the business for me more than any other is Chicago SO/Bernstein. If you crave the genuine Soviet orchestra experience Svetlanov (1968 studio or 1978 live) or Rozhdestvensky (USSR Min of Culture SO) would be my choices. Also like RCO/Jansons and Bournemouth SO/Berglund.

I've not heard the later Gergiev or recent Nelsons recordings. Perhaps someone can comment. Also interested to hear of JLW's recommendation.

[cocolinmichela]

What piece is that one by Piazolla?

It's Chiquelin de Bachin (the little beggar boy), for two cellos and piano, here's an extract:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJmOv3mu3yw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!!

[Stanfordian]

So glad it's not just me! What's your favourite recording?

I love the Symphony No. 7 too especially in live performance. I admire the accounts by LPO/Haitink on Decca, Bychkov/WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln on Avie and Petrenko/RLPO on Naxos.

[BBMmk2]

It's Chiquelin de Bachin (the little beggar boy), for two cellos and piano, here's an extract:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJmOv3mu3yw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!!

Thanks for the link, Michela. Ah, that's quite a beautiful piece! Thanks!

[Richard Tarleton]

So what recording of 4 would people recommend?

(I seem to have several Haitinks among my Shostakovich symphonies)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So what recording of 4 would people recommend?

(I seem to have several Haitinks among my Shostakovich symphonies)

I have adored the Haitink DECCA recording since it first came out - there's also a CSO/Haitink Live recording that is reputedly even better than the superb studio reading, but I haven't heard that yet.

Barshai with the WDRSO is pretty damn fine, too.

[BBMmk2]

Yes Ferney! Barshai etc! Did'nt Previn do this for EMI. I know Jansons had done this, as I have that.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Did'nt Previn do this for EMI.

Yes, he did, Bbm, with the Chicago SO: currently (AFAIK) only available as an MP3 download (quite cheap and coupled with Previn's magnifient Britten 4 Sea Interludes with the LSO). I never "took" to this performance when it first came out, but a quick sample of the MP3 tracks makes my Debit Card start to itch!