Dmitri's Dacha

[Karl Henning]

My obsession for the piece must here show itself in the selection of the c minor Symphony, Op.43.  Which recording?

Which recording?

Might have to go with the Haitink/Chicago performance.  Clarity of line, beauty of tone, gloriousness of volume, by turns cool and searing . . . yes, in a pinch, I think that would be the one.

[jlaurson]

My obsession for the piece must here show itself in the selection of the c minor Symphony, Op.43.  Which recording?

Which recording?

Might have to go with the Haitink/Chicago performance.  Clarity of line, beauty of tone, gloriousness of volume, by turns cool and searing . . . yes, in a pinch, I think that would be the one.

You've been a good boy and tried Jansons / BRSO, haven't you?

Haven't heard the new Esa-Pekka Salonen yet, which I'd like. In fact, I might just do that. Well, not now. It's too late; the better half might disapprove of a DSCH4th at this hour.

[Karl Henning]

You've been a good boy and tried Jansons / BRSO, haven't you?

No, but I very much like his recording with Philadelphia.

[North Star]

The Jansons & Bayer is a very fine recording indeed. Has he recorded it with Philly? Can't see it on Arkiv. Nos. 10 & 11 in the EMI cycle are with Philly.

[Karl Henning]

No, my careless mistake. It is the Tenth with Philadelphia. Yes, the BRSO recording is splendid.

[Mirror Image]

Some great responses from everyone so far. My choice may be a bit conventional but I would bring Bernstein's 1979 Live in Japan performance of Symphony No. 5 along with me. The reason why is simple: I never heard a more passionate, searing performance of this symphonic masterpiece than this one with Lenny. This is a difficult to symphony pull off well IMHO, but Lenny really nailed the essence of the work better than anyone. Oh, and the New York Philharmonic are absolutely top-drawer.

[kishnevi]

I would have to cheat.




Serious answer:  Mullova in VC1 or the Eleventh Symphony as done by Rostropovich on LSO Live.

[Pat B]

My choice might be Rozhdestvensky's 4th on BBC Legends, but I haven't heard that many 4ths. Jansons and Rattle are in my Pile.

The above-mentioned 1979 Bernstein 5th, LSO-Rostropovich 11th, and Mullova VC1 are all excellent too.

[Moonfish]

Indulge me for minute: you're stuck on a desert island with a battery-powered CD player, a pair of headphones, and one recording of Shostakovich's music, what recording would you bring along with you and why?

Too bad you didn't bring a solar-powered cd-player....   

[Hiker]

Indulge me for minute: you're stuck on a desert island with a battery-powered CD player, a pair of headphones, and one recording of Shostakovich's music, what recording would you bring along with you and why?

If I can't have Happy Birthday, Dmitri, I'd settle for this:

[asin]B000000ACI[/asin]

[Sergeant Rock]

...one recording of Shostakovich's music, what recording would you bring along and why?

The 15th, Sanderling, Cleveland...because its existential bleakness would fit the desert island situation. And because it's my favorite bit of Shostakovich.




Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Sweet choice, Sarge.

[jlaurson]

Indulge me for minute: you're stuck on a desert island with a battery-powered CD player, a pair of headphones, and one recording of Shostakovich's music, what recording would you bring along with you and why?

I've pondered and wondered and thought: should I bring a Symphony? Which one? Number 4, because I think it's the core of all symphonic DSCH? (Listen Magazine: Raw Emotion, Coagulated Blood, Vodka and Gunpowder / The Substance of Shostakovich's Fourth. If so, I know which recording, of course: Namely Jansons's with the BRSO. Or should I think beyond the Symphonies and go with my chamber-music love? The String Quartets surely -- and not a set, so not as to cheat by expanding the definition of "one recording", but only the mini-cheat of taking the Jerusalem Quartet's 2 CD re-issue of Quartets 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 (Harmonia Mundi)?

But then it hit me: While perhaps not the first thing one associates with 'typical' Shostakovich, there's one recording I'd take over all others (not just DSCH, for that matter), and that's his set of Preludes & Fugues in the recording with Keith Jarrett (ECM).

Shostakovich's "conversation with Bach, over two hundred years" (from Robert R. Reilly, Surprised by Beauty) is a marvelous work that I've cherished ever since I discovered it many years ago. No one - apart from Max Reger, perhaps - has so ably paid tribute to Master Bach. In this troubled Russian is unequaled in this 20th-century pendant to the German master's Well-Tempered Clavier. It was my entry to Shostakovich's more acerbic works. I could - and still can - listen to it over and over again.

D. Shostakovich, 24 Preludes & Fugues op. 87,
Keith Jarrett
(ECM 1469/70)

[Karl Henning]

Dadgummit . . . I really don't need another set of the Op.87. But learning that you think so very highly of this set, Jens, is another strong data point.  (An old friend of mine in Philadelphia, who back in the day studied IIRC with Leo Ornstein, also prizes this recording above all others.)  Well, I've found a nicely-priced used set, so the risk::reward profile is well acceptable.

[Karl Henning]

The Jansons & Bayer is a very fine recording indeed. Has he recorded it with Philly? Can't see it on Arkiv. Nos. 10 & 11 in the EMI cycle are with Philly.

Hmmm, № 11 with Phila, too?...

[kishnevi]

I have mentioned this before offhandedly, but every time I hear Bartok's Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, the opening of the third movement sounds like a dead ringer for oone passage in DSCH's 14th Symphony.  Granted, the similarities in instrumentation may account for some of it, but it sounds as if Dmitri just leaned over, cut and pasted that passage in his own work.
1) Is it just my imagination?
2) How well did Dmitri know Bela's output?

[North Star]

Hmmm, № 11 with Phila, too?...

Yes, and the first Jazz Suite, the second waltz from Jazz Suite no. 2, and Tahiti Trot.

[Karl Henning]

Yes, and the first Jazz Suite, the second waltz from Jazz Suite no. 2, and Tahiti Trot.

Found a cheap used copy of that 'un, too.

[North Star]

Found a cheap used copy of that 'un, too.

I thought you didn't care for those pieces - and would it have been a better deal to just get the box, and donate the single(s) you had? I know, you're saving for the Hyperion Brahms box. 

[Karl Henning]

I have so much of the rest of the Jansons set, the box would not make sense.