Dmitri's Dacha

[Karl Henning]

I haven't seen the documentary but think it was St Petersburg until 1914 - then changed to the less-German sounding 'Petrograd' in the First World War and then Leningrad after Lenin died in 1924 and then back to St Petersburg after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Yes. Shostakovich's home town was never Stalingrad.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[PerfectWagnerite]

I really enjoyed it.  Thanks for posting.  But technically, Shosti lived in Stalingrad not Leningrad in 1941 since Stalingrad was the name of the town since 1925.  Minor detail but of important historical significance for a historical talk.  Great to see so many video clips of Shosti.

I didn't catch the St. Petersburg/Petrograd/Stalingrad/Leningrad inconsistencies but the video clips were invaluable. Highlights of the lecture include DSCH playing the piano on many occasions, his obvious nervousness at many public events, and of course the conducting of the finale of the 5th Symphony between Mravinsky and Bernstein.

There is another series devoted the String Quartets but I think they are less well presented. Maybe because Michael Parloff had to present the quartets in the order that the Jerusalem Quartet was playing them (not in numerical order) so the presentation did not really follow any timeline and is a bit more difficult to follow.

[Karl Henning]

I didn't catch the St. Petersburg/Petrograd/Stalingrad/Leningrad inconsistencies

Stalingrad was an entirely different city, present-day Volgograd.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Stalingrad was an entirely different city, present-day Volgograd.

Thanks. I didn't know Stalingrad was Volgograd. Anyway poor guy...always one symphony away from a bullet in the head.

[North Star]

Prominent Soviet and Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko [writer of the poem Babi Yar] died in the US, aged 84, his wife and friends confirmed to the media.

Yevtushenko died of cardiac arrest in an American hospital, the poet's widow, Maria Novikova, told RIA Novosti.

[vandermolen]

Prominent Soviet and Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko [writer of the poem Babi Yar] died in the US, aged 84, his wife and friends confirmed to the media.

Yevtushenko died of cardiac arrest in an American hospital, the poet's widow, Maria Novikova, told RIA Novosti.

Sad news - I have been listening to Symphony 13 'Babi-Yar' and hope to visit the site in Ukraine next month.

[vandermolen]

New release:
[asin]B01IQHSWYO[/asin]

[vandermolen]

I really enjoyed this version of Symphony 12. A rather deeper performance than many I know - the slow movement in particular and a very exciting finale. I've always thought that this symphony was rather underrated. I'm looking forward to hearing Symphony 11 '1905' in London on Wednesday night:
[asin]B000023Y5A[/asin]
It's on Amazon UK for under £2.00.

PS don't all reply at once!

[Mirror Image]

I really enjoyed this version of Symphony 12. A rather deeper performance than many I know - the slow movement in particular and a very exciting finale. I've always thought that this symphony was rather underrated. I'm looking forward to hearing Symphony 11 '1905' in London on Wednesday night:
[asin]B000023Y5A[/asin]
It's on Amazon UK for under £2.00.

PS don't all reply at once!

Not a favorite of mine from Shostakovich, but I do like Rozhdestvensky's performance of it. Easy on the bombast and tends to dig a bit more into the symphony's emotional core. Have you heard the Rozhdestvensky performance, Jeffrey?

[Mirror Image]

New release:
[asin]B01IQHSWYO[/asin]

Of course, if someone already owns the Kondrashin set, it makes this release quite redundant or are these different performances then the ones in the Melodiya box?

[vandermolen]

Thanks John. I don't think I have heard the Rozhdestvensky in No.12 although the Melodiya release gets some criticism on Amazon - not due to the performance but because of the engineering. I suspect that those Urania releases are the same as in the Kondrashin boxed set. No.4 is terrific IMHO.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks John. I don't think I have heard the Rozhdestvensky in No.12 although the Melodiya release gets dome criticism on Amazon - not due to the performance but because of the engineering. I suspect that those Urania releases are the same as in the Kondrashin boxed set. No.4 is terrific IMHO.

Actually, Jeffrey I have no complaints regarding the audio quality of the Rozhdestvensky set. It sounds fine to my ears. Granted it's not up to par with today's standards where everything is crystal clear, but the sound is perfectly acceptable and non-intrusive. If anything, the Kondrashin set has some of the harshest audio quality I've heard from any Shostakovich cycle, which, I suppose, is a lot of the reason as to why I can't quite enjoy the performances as much as Rozhdestvensky's or even Svetlanov's. I paid an arm and a leg for the Rozhdestvensky set, but it has become my gold standard to which so many other performances I've heard are measured. It's just that good I kid you not.

[vandermolen]

Actually, Jeffrey I have no complaints regarding the audio quality of the Rozhdestvensky set. It sounds fine to my ears. Granted it's not up to par with today's standards where everything is crystal clear, but the sound is perfectly acceptable and non-intrusive. If anything, the Kondrashin set has some of the harshest audio quality I've heard from any Shostakovich cycle, which, I suppose, is a lot of the reason as to why I can't quite enjoy the performances as much as Rozhdestvensky's or even Svetlanov's. I paid an arm and a leg for the Rozhdestvensky set, but it has become my gold standard to which so many other performances I've heard are measured. It's just that good I kid you not.

Thanks John. I rate Rozhdestvensky very much and greatly admire him for recording all the Vaughan Williams symphonies for Melodiya - a very surprising issue. I have a number of his Shostakovich recordings which I also admire.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks John. I rate Rozhdestvensky very much and greatly admire him for recording all the Vaughan Williams symphonies for Melodiya - a very surprising issue. I have a number of his Shostakovich recordings which I also admire.

Excellent to hear, Jeffrey. I don't know what it is, but I'm still apprehensive about hearing a Russian with Russian forces perform Vaughan Williams. It's like I have a mental block up against it.

[Karl Henning]

Jeffrey, it was actually the report of an old friend who heard the Eleventh live in San Diego, that overcame my hesitation toward that symphony.

[Mirror Image]

Jeffrey, it was actually the report of an old friend who heard the Eleventh live in San Diego, that overcame my hesitation toward that symphony.

Or do you mean the 12th, Karl?

[Karl Henning]

Or do you mean the 12th, Karl?

I understand the confusion, my hopping in late, John . . .

I really enjoyed this version of Symphony 12. A rather deeper performance than many I know - the slow movement in particular and a very exciting finale. I've always thought that this symphony was rather underrated. I'm looking forward to hearing Symphony 11 '1905' in London on Wednesday night

But I did mean the Eleventh.  I listen to it with different expectations than I make of any of the other Shostakovich symphonies, but I do think it a fine piece.

[Mirror Image]

I understand the confusion, my hopping in late, John . . .


But I did mean the Eleventh.  I listen to it with different expectations than I make of any of the other Shostakovich symphonies, but I do think it a fine piece.

Ah okay, Well, I can certainly say The Year 1905 is tremendous! The second movement, The Ninth of January, always terrifies me and leaves me trembling. Such nerve-wracking intensity.

Speaking of the 11th, even though I do have such a strong preference for Rozhdestvensky, I'll say that Haitink is probably my preferred performance of this symphony. I seem to go back and forth between Rozhdestvensky's and Haitink's cycles the most.

[Maestro267]

Ah okay, Well, I can certainly say The Year 1905 is tremendous! The second movement, The Ninth of January, always terrifies me and leaves me trembling. Such nerve-wracking intensity.

Based on its programme, it's probably having the desired effect then.

[TheGSMoeller]

Time to revisit the 11th, I've always considered Rostropovich with the NSO to be a desert island disc, there are moments that are absolutely terrifying, which I think was DSCH's intent.