Dmitri's Dacha

[Sergeant Rock]

Folks, what is your favorite No. 11?

The Rostropovich live with the LSO:




Sarge

[Andy D.]

Folks, what is your favorite No. 11?

I only know the Barshai and Retrepko and definitely favor the former. I love the 11th.

[Karl Henning]

The Rostropovich live with the LSO:




Sarge

Well, and I should listen to that one.

[SymphonicAddict]

Haitink, Kitaenko and Rozhdestvensky conduct the 11th with grandiloquence, but Haitink (Decca) ranks higher for me. I never cared for the Kondrashin. His tempos are a bit fast for my taste and the sound engineering doesn't convince me either.

[JBS]

The Rostropovich live with the LSO:




Sarge

очень верно!!

Also the Eighth from the same combination. But not the 5th.  Nor, truth told, most of the other DSCH recordings conducted by Slava I have heard, with the exception of Lady Macbeth of Mtensk.

[vandermolen]

I like these two but also versions conducted by Kondrashin, Kitajenko and John Pritchard (I was actually at that concert):

[aukhawk]

De Preist / Helsinki PO




[edited to add - WOO-HOO! - 100 pages up on this DSCH thread!

[Madiel]

Has anyone listened to / compared the different recordings of The Golden Age?

I'm aware of 2* full recordings (plenty more of suites but I'm currently more interested in the full deal).



*Actually I think there's a third (Yuri Simonov and the Bolshoi), but the applause in what appears to a be a live stage performance is very intrusive.

PS For the other ballets, as far as I'm aware Rozhdestvensky is the only person who has recorded them in full?

[Roasted Swan]

Has anyone listened to / compared the different recordings of The Golden Age?

I'm aware of 2* full recordings (plenty more of suites but I'm currently more interested in the full deal).



*Actually I think there's a third (Yuri Simonov and the Bolshoi), but the applause in what appears to a be a live stage performance is very intrusive.

PS For the other ballets, as far as I'm aware Rozhdestvensky is the only person who has recorded them in full?

Personally I'd go for the Serebrier.  Much as I love Rozhdestvensky I think Serebrier is better here.  Simonov is an absolute non-contender - as you say a very noisy audience and poor recording to boot.  Rozhdestevensky has no competition for the complete Bolt (a shame) and Limpid stream (although most of this pitches up in the various ballet suites - check out Maxim Shostakovich's old recording of them for something suitably Soviet!)

[Biffo]

There is an excellent DVD of The Bolt from the Bolshoi Ballet. The production is clever and at times hilariously funny. I am not sure if it was the composer's intention but the devil gets all the best tunes with the various decadents and malcontents getting the best scenes. The concluding pageant celebrating Soviet industry is very inventive but outstays its welcome for me.

I rarely watch ballet but had to have this one after seeing it broadcast on TV>

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bolt-Bolshoi-Ballet-DVD-Shostakovich/dp/B000NVL4MY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=shostakovich+the+bolt&qid=1564142162&s=dvd&sr=1-1

[bhodges]

Folks, what is your favorite No. 11?

I do like Rostropovich and De Preist (the latter in exceptional sound), and like Jeffrey, I saw Pritchard live, back in the day.

But Haitink still gets my top vote. His implacable rhythmic tread, the Concertgebouw's terrific percussion section, and Decca's stunning sound -- all seal the deal.

PS, the first time I ever heard No. 11 was a live radio broadcast in the 1980s, with...(wait for it)...Leonard Slatkin and St. Louis! He gets no love in some circles, but however it happened, he and the orchestra turned me on to the piece.

--Bruce

[Karl Henning]

Personally I'd go for the Serebrier.  Much as I love Rozhdestvensky I think Serebrier is better here.  Simonov is an absolute non-contender - as you say a very noisy audience and poor recording to boot.  Rozhdestevensky has no competition for the complete Bolt (a shame) and Limpid stream (although most of this pitches up in the various ballet suites - check out Maxim Shostakovich's old recording of them for something suitably Soviet!)

Serebrier, yes.

[Karl Henning]

"O Delvig, Delvig!" is top-shelf Shostakovich

And, to be sure, the invogorating Malagueña

http://www.youtube.com/v/v5KMBeKgGr8

[Andy D.]

At this point the Mravinsky 8th is ruling my world... But I've only heard that and the Barshai.

[Madiel]

At this point the Mravinsky 8th is ruling my world... But I've only heard that and the Barshai.

My own view is that if you find a version you love, you don't need to go looking for others.

This is not, however, a regular GMG approach.

[Andy D.]

My own view is that if you find a version you love, you don't need to go looking for others.

This is not, however, a regular GMG approach.

I love hearing manifold recordings of a piece I like so I think I fit in. I have eight entire Ring cycles.

[Madiel]

I love hearing manifold recordings of a piece I like so I think I fit in. I have eight entire Ring cycles.

You should be fine here. 

[vandermolen]

I do like Rostropovich and De Preist (the latter in exceptional sound), and like Jeffrey, I saw Pritchard live, back in the day.

But Haitink still gets my top vote. His implacable rhythmic tread, the Concertgebouw's terrific percussion section, and Decca's stunning sound -- all seal the deal.

PS, the first time I ever heard No. 11 was a live radio broadcast in the 1980s, with...(wait for it)...Leonard Slatkin and St. Louis! He gets no love in some circles, but however it happened, he and the orchestra turned me on to the piece.

--Bruce

Good to know that you were at the Pritchard concert as well Bruce. Did you get the CD of that excellent performance? I remember sitting in the Choir seats behind the percussion, which was very exciting.
Jeffrey

[bhodges]

Good to know that you were at the Pritchard concert as well Bruce. Did you get the CD of that excellent performance? I remember sitting in the Choir seats behind the percussion, which was very exciting.
Jeffrey

I did! Memory is foggy, but may have been one of those CDs included with BBC Music Magazine?

In any case, yes, and the recording is also really good.

--Bruce

[Madiel]

My occasional determination to come to grips with a composer's oeuvre and come up with a plan to fill gaps in my collection can be dangerous.

From cross-referencing reviews and worklists I've pencilled in 8 separate Shostakovich discs for purchase, some of which are old things I think I can get on the second-hand market.

There's some other works for which I haven't come up with a firm idea yet. And I might throw in another op.87 Preludes & Fugues I've been considering...