Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony

[vandermolen]

What do you think of this work and do you have a favourite recording?

Having been a bit snooty about it at one stage I have grown to appreciate it more and more, especially some of the quieter passages. I have numerous recordings and especially like the Jarvi version on Chandos and the old Ancerl recording on Supraphon. I know that Bernstein's two recordings are highly regarded by many and there is a historic Toscanini version. I have a very old Celibidache recording which I like very much too.

[PerfectWagnerite]

I think it's a magnificent work. I probably have 15 or so recordings. My favorite (no surprise really) is Lenny with the CSO, just perfectly paced with some of the scariest brass playing you'll ever hear. Another one I like is Ancerl/Czech which is leaner but just as intense. A few others that are also very fine but not quite on the same level is Masur/NYPO, Kitajenko/WDR, and Temirkanov/St. Petersburg. For some reason I just can't warm up to Toscanini. I have not heard the Jarvi.

[karlhenning]

Hoy, Jeremy!

I do like the Ančerl recording (mono, I think); very exciting, and he carries the whole work.  The Haitink recording is very good, too, and remains a favorite of mine.  The Leningrad in both the Maksim Dmitriyevich and Kondrashin sets are exemplary;  but then, I do entire both sets in their entirety, in spite of the odd blemish.  After having gotten well affectioned towards the piece, I have come to enjoy the Bernstein/Chicago account a great deal, its 'individualisms' notwithstanding;  I should never conduct the piece that way, myself, but that does not interfere with my unalloyed enjoyment of this performance.

[karlhenning]

Oh, and to answer the initial query directly:  I think it a great symphony, a work whose artistic stature justifies the extraordinary popularity of its initial dissemination.

[bhodges]

Love the piece.  My first experience with it live was with Bernstein and Chicago, shortly before they made their DG recording, and have been very lucky to hear it live about once a year.

For recordings, don't know either of your favorites, unfortunately!  The Toscanini is worth hearing purely for historical reasons: I am enchanted imagining the summer of 1942, and millions of Americans glued to their radios, listening to its U.S. premiere.  But the piece also cries out for more contemporary sound, and there are many fine ones in that arena.  Bernstein/Chicago is as excellent as everyone else says, and I also like Gergiev/Kirov, Haitink/LPO, and a relative dark horse, Wigglesworth/BBC Wales.

--Bruce

[dirkronk]

The first time I ever heard this was in a live concert, many years back. I hadn't been listening to Shostakovich much at the time and was familiar only with his 1st, 5th, 9th and 15th symphonies, so I was NOT ready for the 7th at all. After the long first-movement "death march bolero" I wished that I were running a rusty razor blade concession in the lobby...I coulda made a fortune.

Seriously, though, it took me a while after that experience to warm up to the work. But I did. Mainly through recordings by Mravinsky (a 1953 performance) and Ancerl (really great...I think it's the same one mentioned by others here, but my copy is on old Parliament vinyl). I'd acquired the Toscanini many years before any of these, but while I can appreciate the energy expended and the excitement maintained in this rendition, I'm kinda like PerfectWagnerite in that I can't say it fully wins me over. I first encountered the Bernstein/CSO just a few years ago, and have to admit that it IS a winner, at least to my ears.

Oh...and I won't pretend that the 7th comes back around into my "play" stack of LPs or CDs on a real regular basis. While I've come to terms with the piece, it still requires me to be in the right mood if I expect to enjoy the experience.



Dirk

[PerfectWagnerite]

I almost forget, the Barshai/WDR is excellent as well for the warm opulent sound and the finess of the orchestral playing.

I especially like the ending of the Leningrad. Some thinks it's cheesy but I think those swells in the brass really get me going.

[nimrod79]

Great symphony.  It may not be his best, but it is one of the most dramatic, intense symphonies out there.  And I agree, the ending is great, with a tragic undercurrent that often gets overlooked by critics.

The Bernstein performance with the CSO is fantastic, one of the finest recordings of any piece of music out there.

[vandermolen]

Thanks for the toughtful replies. I like the ending very much too - very much along the lines of an old Soviet wartime poster proclaiming 'Forward, Forward, Victory is near'! I was showing my students a video about World War Two (People's Century) earlier this week and it featured quite an extended (and very moving) section on the first performance of the score in beseiged Leningrad during the war. A witness at the concert described it as 'unbearably moving' when a young girl presented the conductor with flowers at the end of the performance - at a time when thousands were freezing to death and starving in the streets - Like the symphony they had just heard, it was a symbol of life and hope. A note attached to the flowers thanked the conductor for 'preserving symphonic music.'

[Dundonnell]

Jarvi with the SNO, Jeffrey.......Jarvi takes a lot of beating in Prokofiev and Shostakovich imho....and-wait for it-Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth SO! Berglund was(I know that he is still alive but pretty dormant these days) a superb conductor and this is a great performance.

However..the Leningrad is certainly not my favourite Shostakovich. The Eighth and Tenth knock sports of it!

[karlhenning]

However..the Leningrad is certainly not my favourite Shostakovich.

Must be Järvi's fault 

Not really; I do have a sentimental preference for the Tenth, myself.

[Dana]

Great symphony.  It may not be his best, but it is one of the most dramatic, intense symphonies out there.  And I agree, the ending is great, with a tragic undercurrent that often gets overlooked by critics.

Do you know of any recordings that make this undercurrent more noticeable?

      I think that this symphony, along with the 8th, is one that shows the Mahlerian influence more than any other. The Kirov Orchestra made a trip to Ann Arbor to perform all of Shostakovich's symphonies spanning a two year period on his centennial, and thanks to student discounts, I was able to see many of the performances. What struck me about these performances was how this symphony stood out from the others. The 7th & 8th Symphonies sprawl in a way that none of the other symphonies do, even the 5th & 10th. A big part of this is that Shostakovich tends towards more Mahlerian structures in these symphonies (this is also true to a lesser extent in the 1st symphony) - his 5th & 10th both tend to be more sequential in the way in which they process.

      I do enjoy the Ancerl recording you mention - I think he beats a fine performance out of the orchestra - and obviously Bernstein's recording is rightfully legendary. I guess if you like Bernstein's Mahler, you couldn't possibly go wrong with his take on this symphony. I personally enjoy Gergiev's recording with Kirov, because it's a big Russian orchestra performing a big Russian work, and the sonic highs and lows on the disc are absolutely amazing!

[eyeresist]

The 7th & 8th Symphonies sprawl in a way that none of the other symphonies do, even the 5th & 10th.

Have you heard the 4th?!?

Timely thread; obviously I must supplement my collection with some Ancerl and Bernstein. (Currently have Kondrashin, Mravinsky, Barshai, and the surprisingly good Yablonsky.)

[Brian]

The Kirov Orchestra made a trip to Ann Arbor to perform all of Shostakovich's symphonies spanning a two year period on his centennial.

This is the first statement, in the four years since I have moved from Detroit, that has ever, ever made me regret the departure.
And by the way, the 11th has its share of sprawl (though I do not think the remarkably concise Tenth does, or the last three movements of #5...but that's just me).

[Dana]

Have you heard the 4th?!?

No! Should I?

[Brian]

No! Should I?

Best put on a hard hat first. 

[eyeresist]

No! Should I?

Is this irony? My point is that your saying "The 7th & 8th Symphonies sprawl in a way that none of the other symphonies do" suggests you haven't heard all the symphonies and so shouldn't make such sweeping statements.

[Dana]

      Then I apologize for making such a misstep. I can only speak to my own experience. Care to comment on how the 4th stacks up next to the 7th & 8th, and how it disproves my statement?

[Holden]

The only version I have is a live one from Rostropovich and the LSO and I really like it. I'm still discovering Shostakovich and the more I hear the more I like.

[vandermolen]

Jarvi with the SNO, Jeffrey.......Jarvi takes a lot of beating in Prokofiev and Shostakovich imho....and-wait for it-Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth SO! Berglund was(I know that he is still alive but pretty dormant these days) a superb conductor and this is a great performance.

However..the Leningrad is certainly not my favourite Shostakovich. The Eighth and Tenth knock sports of it!

Berglund was very good Colin, I agree.  His Vaughan Williams Symphony No 6 (newish EMI reissue) is one of the best as is his Shostakovich Symphony 11 and much Sibelius and Nielsen Symphony No 5 (never on CD as far as I can tell).