Dmitri's Dacha

[Andy D.]

I generally like the Gergiev interpretations but not the acoustics.  They tend to be a bit stuffy on disc so prefer live recorded sounds.  For example, I adore his live video of Prokofiev's Scythian suite but not the CD with the same forces.

Thanks for helping me!

[SymphonicAddict]

I was listening to The Fall of Berlin. This is simply exhilarating and brilliant. Shostakovich wrote so many film scores, and this has to rank among the best. A much more carefree facet of the composer with lots of fun. Superb music from start to finish. This Naxos recording is just impressive too, really fine and powerful. Highly recommended.

[Alek Hidell]

Most of those others can be eliminated on the basis of mixed reviews. So mentioning them can be permitted, I just wouldn't have rated your opinion as highly!

Looks like Jo498 mentioned it in passing a page back, but I've heard good things about the Rubackyte recording - though I confess I haven't actually heard it. (The ones I've heard are Nikoleyeva [1987(?) version], Melnikov, and Ashkenazy. I rank them in that order.)

I know it's not your inclination to pile up different versions of a work, Madiel, but I know Todd is fond of Rubackyte in general (don't recall if he's ever talked about her Shosty Op.87, though).

[Karl Henning]

I was listening to The Fall of Berlin. This is simply exhilarating and brilliant. Shostakovich wrote so many film scores, and this has to rank among the best. A much more carefree facet of the composer with lots of fun. Superb music from start to finish. This Naxos recording is just impressive too, really fine and powerful. Highly recommended.

Must own that I've enjoyed the film music better than I expected.

[Karl Henning]

Looks like Jo498 mentioned it in passing a page back, but I've heard good things about the Rubackyte recording - though I confess I haven't actually heard it. (The ones I've heard are Nikoleyeva [1987(?) version], Melnikov, and Ashkenazy. I rank them in that order.)

I know it's not your inclination to pile up different versions of a work, Madiel, but I know Todd is fond of Rubackyte in general (don't recall if he's ever talked about her Shosty Op.87, though).

I have enjoyed it!

[vandermolen]

Been enjoying this moving wartime performance. The tail end of the American radio announcement at the start took me by surprise:

[SymphonicAddict]

Must own that I've enjoyed the film music better than I expected.

It's a refreshing alternative to his other symphonic works.

[SymphonicAddict]

The Execution of Stepan Razin from this set is quite simply tremendous!! It has to be the reference recording for this piece, head and shoulders above any other. An electrifying performance where all was rightly blended for huge impact: orchestra, chorus, soloist and the very atmosphere of the recording. It was almost like watching a film, a vivid experience. The bells near the ending sounded masterly, I think it was an effect proper of geniuses. That moment gave me goosebumps.

All in all, what a brutal piece!

[Roasted Swan]

The Execution of Stepan Razin from this set is quite simply tremendous!! It has to be the reference recording for this piece, head and shoulders above any other. An electrifying performance where all was rightly blended for huge impact: orchestra, chorus, soloist and the very atmosphere of the recording. It was almost like watching a film, a vivid experience. The bells near the ending sounded masterly, I think it was an effect proper of geniuses. That moment gave me goosebumps.

All in all, what a brutal piece!

+1 - the type of performance for which the phrase "classic recording" was invented!

[Irons]

The Execution of Stepan Razin from this set is quite simply tremendous!! It has to be the reference recording for this piece, head and shoulders above any other. An electrifying performance where all was rightly blended for huge impact: orchestra, chorus, soloist and the very atmosphere of the recording. It was almost like watching a film, a vivid experience. The bells near the ending sounded masterly, I think it was an effect proper of geniuses. That moment gave me goosebumps.

All in all, what a brutal piece!

Go to hell in a handcart! "Brutal" is a perfect description. Beside Kondrashin I very much like Slovak with a fine bass, Bohus Hanak.

[Andy D.]

Really psyched about checking out the Kondrashian

Recently I grabbed the Petrenko 4th and it helped me click with that symphony. The recording itself sounds so good (sometimes I just want to hear something with more modern production) and I liked the performance a lot. Now the 4th is one of my favorites.

I still need to give 1-3, 6, and 12 a try.

[Roasted Swan]

Really psyched about checking out the Kondrashian

Recently I grabbed the Petrenko 4th and it helped me click with that symphony. The recording itself sounds so good (sometimes I just want to hear something with more modern production) and I liked the performance a lot. Now the 4th is one of my favorites.

I still need to give 1-3, 6, and 12 a try.

Andy - one thing to bear in mind is that the Kondrashin recordings are all "old school" Soviet orchestras/recordings.  This really means that the orchestral timbres can be harsh (check out soviet brass playing and see if you like it)  and the recordings not as detailed as you imply you like and occasionally they become positively congested even distorted.  BUT, I absolutely love this type of performance and indeed recording.  Its seat-of-your-pants, riding-into-the-abyss kind of thing.  For example the end of Kondrashin's No.11 is SO violent - slamming timpani and tubular bells - that it sounds viscerally like a massacre or nascent revolution.  Once you buy into this Soviet sound almost nothing else compares........

[Andy D.]

Andy - one thing to bear in mind is that the Kondrashin recordings are all "old school" Soviet orchestras/recordings.  This really means that the orchestral timbres can be harsh (check out soviet brass playing and see if you like it)  and the recordings not as detailed as you imply you like and occasionally they become positively congested even distorted.  BUT, I absolutely love this type of performance and indeed recording.  Its seat-of-your-pants, riding-into-the-abyss kind of thing.  For example the end of Kondrashin's No.11 is SO violent - slamming timpani and tubular bells - that it sounds viscerally like a massacre or nascent revolution.  Once you buy into this Soviet sound almost nothing else compares........

Thanks so much for the considerate heads up! But I've got all kinds of wonderful old recordings by Klemperer, Furtwangler et al and love them for what they are.

That said, it's really interesting how you mentioned the orchestration...I'm going to have to check into this more.

Again, this was both considerate and helpful and I'm grateful.

[relm1]

Andy - one thing to bear in mind is that the Kondrashin recordings are all "old school" Soviet orchestras/recordings.  This really means that the orchestral timbres can be harsh (check out soviet brass playing and see if you like it)  and the recordings not as detailed as you imply you like and occasionally they become positively congested even distorted.  BUT, I absolutely love this type of performance and indeed recording.  Its seat-of-your-pants, riding-into-the-abyss kind of thing.  For example the end of Kondrashin's No.11 is SO violent - slamming timpani and tubular bells - that it sounds viscerally like a massacre or nascent revolution.  Once you buy into this Soviet sound almost nothing else compares........

One other thing, Soviet (and Eastern European) trumpets have a vibrato in their trumpet playing that Western players do not.  It is very jarring especially to brass players to hear that and you get loads of it in Soviet era recordings.  Add to that, the music is typically so loud that the levels distort.  Fine audio is NOT the strength of these recordings.  But they are a uniquely authentic in their interpretation so worth hearing and preserving for that reason, however, rarely my go to versions.    I prefer sonic and performance clarity over raw power.

[aukhawk]

FWIW I agree with others that the Kondrashin Execution of Stepan Razin is absolutely exceptional.  The sound quality suits the subject matter perfectly.
The LP cover has a bit more about it than the anodyne collection art:


To quote from the (translated) poem, just after the climactic moment of execution:
In the death-like silence
the fleas jumped over
from the smocks of the poor
to the furs of the rich.

( Incidentally Googling for "execution Stepan Razin" yields some truly hair-raising images - and I was just digesting my lunch too! )

[Andy D.]

One other thing, Soviet (and Eastern European) trumpets have a vibrato in their trumpet playing that Western players do not.  It is very jarring especially to brass players to hear that and you get loads of it in Soviet era recordings.  Add to that, the music is typically so loud that the levels distort.  Fine audio is NOT the strength of these recordings.  But they are a uniquely authentic in their interpretation so worth hearing and preserving for that reason, however, rarely my go to versions.    I prefer sonic and performance clarity over raw power.

This is also really interesting, thank you.

I don't have problems with old recordings (heck my favorite film music is mostly from the Golden age), it's just as I get older I find myself being more open to more recent stuff.

My favorite Shostakovich has been Gergiev's 7th, Mravinsky 8th, Petrenko 4th, 5th, 10, and 11, the Barshai 13th, and the Kondrashian 15th (the last of which I have with the very good box pictured below).

The 15th is the only one I've heard conducted by Kondrashian, and I love it. I'm especially psyched to check out his handling of the first mvt of the 8th, which is one of my favorite pieces of music by anyone.

[aukhawk]

I enjoyed the Kondrashin 8th for years, but for me it was superseded by (of all people) Previn (!)  And then by some more modern readings, notably Caetani.

[Brahmsian]

Really psyched about checking out the Kondrashian

Recently I grabbed the Petrenko 4th and it helped me click with that symphony. The recording itself sounds so good (sometimes I just want to hear something with more modern production) and I liked the performance a lot. Now the 4th is one of my favorites.

I still need to give 1-3, 6, and 12 a try.

It is great, isn't it Andy?  Very glad you enjoy it.  Petrenko's 4th and 14th are probably my favourtie recordings out of that set.

[Andy D.]

So good to hear from you!n

Uh-oh, now I GOT-sta check out the 14th. haven't heard that one yet.

[Brahmsian]

So good to hear from you!n

Uh-oh, now I GOT-sta check out the 14th. haven't heard that one yet.

Welcome back.  Yes, do check out the 14th.  The Petrenko has a wicked 2nd movment Malaguena.