Dmitri's Dacha

[relm1]

The Prague Symphony, yes.  I like it a lot.  The elegiac Cor anglais near the end of the fourth movement is so heart-searingly tender, it feels that the entire symphony was shaped to foc us there;  of course there is then a whirlwind to close.

Oh that is a pivotal moment requiring great depth.  I must seek this one out!

[vandermolen]

Terrific performance - those bells at the end!

[vers la flamme]

Getting back into Shostakovich a bit lately. I've been enjoying some of the symphonies quite a bit: No.1, No.4, No.7 & No.9 to be specific. Still have yet to hear the later symphonies, but I'm working my way through the Petrenko/RLPO cycle. It's excellent, if anyone was wondering. All great performances.

[relm1]

I just listened to the new Chandos recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 performed by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by John Storgårds.  This is overall a very fine release.  The Palace Square Adagio in this recording is appropriately quasi-militaristic but not especially atmospheric.  This made me question exactly why should it be atmospheric in the first place?  I don't have a great answer other than that's the way I was introduced to it but that might not make so much sense if you base the performance purely on the material.  I give the lack of atmosphere a pass as being more related to this is not about mood but a sense of dread making this performance feel more about the aftermath of a failed revolution rather than something more general.  The Ninth of January Allegro felt appropriate and well performed.  No criticism here.  The tempo and intensity worked.  In Memoriam – Adagio felt rushed.  I would have preferred a slightly slower tempo on the second half as the intensity built up.  The Tocsin Alarm was wonderful and precise.  My criticism here is in the slower section with the very sublime Cor Anglais solo wasn't memorable.  I think Houston/Stokowski really kills it here.  That performance is so sublime and yearning especially if that moment lingers a bit more as it did with LSO too.  The final intense ending is fine but I felt the bells started an octave too high.  Or perhaps I prefer the LSO/Rostropovich and HSO/Stokowski lower octave.  I've heard this work multiple times in concert performances and with SFO/MTT playing giant funeral bells at the end and OMG the impact of those lower bells is powerful!  Here, Chandos/Storgårds players the first tone up an octave which would be fine if I hadn't heard the dreaded bells from hell.  I still think this new Storgårds release is very good, just that the competition is extremely stiff.  I enjoyed it, but it won't replace my favorite interpretations.  A work like this, there are moments you can't wait till they arrive and at best, those moments of powerful and sublime rather than just good.  With Shostakovich, I no longer need just good.

[vandermolen]

I just listed to the new Chandos recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 performed by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by John Storgårds.  This is overall a very fine release.  The Palace Square Adagio in this recording is appropriately quasi-militaristic but not especially atmospheric.  This made me question exactly why should it be atmospheric in the first place?  I don't have a great answer other than that's the way I was introduced to it but that might not make so much sense if you base the performance purely on the material.  I give the lack of atmosphere a pass as being more related to this is not about mood but a sense of dread making this performance feel more about the aftermath of a failed revolution rather than something more general.  The Ninth of January Allegro felt appropriate and well performed.  No criticism here.  The tempo and intensity worked.  In Memoriam – Adagio felt rushed.  I would have preferred a slightly slower tempo on the second half as the intensity built up.  The Tocsin Alarm was wonderful and precise.  My criticism here is in the slower section with the very sublime Cor Anglais solo wasn't memorable.  I think Houston/Stokowski really kills it here.  That performance is so sublime and yearning especially if that moment lingers a bit more as it did with LSO too.  The final intense ending is fine but I felt the bells started an octave too high.  Or perhaps I prefer the LSO/Rostropovich and HSO/Stokowski lower octave.  I've heard this work multiple times in concert performances and with SFO/MTT playing giant funeral bells at the end and OMG the impact of those lower bells is powerful!  Here, Chandos/Storgårds players the first tone up an octave which would be fine if I hadn't heard the dreaded bells from hell.  I still think this new Storgårds release is very good, just that the competition is extremely stiff.  I enjoyed it, but it won't replace my favorite interpretations.  A work like this, there are moments you can't wait till they arrive and at best, those moments of powerful and sublime rather than just good.  With Shostakovich, I no longer need just good.

Excellent review Karim. I agree about a number of issues. The opening to me seemed very slow. I was listening on a small system in the study, so I need to hear it again on my main Hi-Fi system. And, you're quite right that the Cor Anglais section at the end was not as atmospheric as it might have been. Like you, however, overall I enjoyed it firstly. I'm not musically trained enough to pick up your point about the bells at the end but the 'cathedral-type' bell moved me greatly. Oddly enough the Stokowski/Houston version has never been one of my favourites but I must listen to it again. I also have a recording with him conducting on Russian Disc. My favourite versions are by Kondrashin, Pritchard (I was at the concert), Berglund and Lazar Berman. There was also a great live Bournemouth SO/Karabits recording given away BBC Music Magazine.

[Mahlerian]

Getting back into Shostakovich a bit lately. I've been enjoying some of the symphonies quite a bit: No.1, No.4, No.7 & No.9 to be specific. Still have yet to hear the later symphonies, but I'm working my way through the Petrenko/RLPO cycle. It's excellent, if anyone was wondering. All great performances.

What were your thoughts on the Fourth, this time around?

[vers la flamme]

What were your thoughts on the Fourth, this time around?

Overall I liked it. Perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I found it to be a little episodic. It's clear that his intentions were to write something all-encompassing, but it almost sounded like too much was going on at times (particularly about midway through the first movement and again in the finale). I suspect it's just a matter of me needing to spend more time with the music. I wish scores were available freely for Shostakovich's music, I would love to follow along with one. I think it's clear that he was studying Mahler leading to the composition of this work. I especially hear echoes of Mahler's 7th.

[Karl Henning]

Overall I liked it. Perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I found it to be a little episodic. It's clear that his intentions were to write something all-encompassing, but it almost sounded like too much was going on at times (particularly about midway through the first movement and again in the finale). I suspect it's just a matter of me needing to spend more time with the music. I wish scores were available freely for Shostakovich's music, I would love to follow along with one. I think it's clear that he was studying Mahler leading to the composition of this work. I especially hear echoes of Mahler's 7th.

FWIW, the first time I heard it, it was just to grand a vista for my range of sight.

[vers la flamme]

FWIW, the first time I heard it, it was just to grand a vista for my range of sight.

Well said. That appears to be the case for me, too.

[Mahlerian]

Overall I liked it. Perhaps I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I found it to be a little episodic. It's clear that his intentions were to write something all-encompassing, but it almost sounded like too much was going on at times (particularly about midway through the first movement and again in the finale). I suspect it's just a matter of me needing to spend more time with the music. I wish scores were available freely for Shostakovich's music, I would love to follow along with one. I think it's clear that he was studying Mahler leading to the composition of this work. I especially hear echoes of Mahler's 7th.

One of the things the Fourth Symphony has in common with Mahler, and specifically the later Mahler, is the way that a relatively conventional structure is hidden beneath several layers of misdirection (a "false" recapitulation in the first movement, the stream-of-consciousness treatment of variation in the finale), and also in the fact that the music is in a constant state of development.

Several things which seem like complete non-sequiturs are actually variants on major themes, like the string fugato in the development of the first movement, which is just the first theme, and there are many times, as in the recapitulation, where he seems to do one thing, but does another. After presenting the introduction more or less verbatim (just accreted with extra layers), Shostakovich brings back the instrumentation of the first theme...but the melody of the second. Then we end with the first theme in the instrumentation of the second!

[relm1]

One of the things the Fourth Symphony has in common with Mahler, and specifically the later Mahler, is the way that a relatively conventional structure is hidden beneath several layers of misdirection (a "false" recapitulation in the first movement, the stream-of-consciousness treatment of variation in the finale), and also in the fact that the music is in a constant state of development.

Several things which seem like complete non-sequiturs are actually variants on major themes, like the string fugato in the development of the first movement, which is just the first theme, and there are many times, as in the recapitulation, where he seems to do one thing, but does another. After presenting the introduction more or less verbatim (just accreted with extra layers), Shostakovich brings back the instrumentation of the first theme...but the melody of the second. Then we end with the first theme in the instrumentation of the second!

Also the Shosti's Fourth last movement starts the same way Mahler's 1st's last movement starts with quiet and slow timpani and the inclusion of a funeral processional at the start of the last movement is a very common Mahler trait.

[Karl Henning]

And, of course, that funeral march is only one reason why withdrawing it from performance was the right idea.

[vers la flamme]

Thoughts on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District? I'm thinking about getting my hands on it. I don't know much about opera but I'm somewhat drawn to this one. I want to hear for myself what Stalin got so upset about. 

[Karl Henning]

Thoughts on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District? I'm thinking about getting my hands on it. I don't know much about opera but I'm somewhat drawn to this one. I want to hear for myself what Stalin got so upset about. 

Terrific!  You remind me I should watch it again.

[aukhawk]

I want to hear for myself what Stalin got so upset about. 

I think he was just generally a bad-tempered sort of bloke.

[relm1]

Thoughts on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District? I'm thinking about getting my hands on it. I don't know much about opera but I'm somewhat drawn to this one. I want to hear for myself what Stalin got so upset about. 

One of my favorite operas.  I saw it live by the SF Opera which was also great but to me, the best performance was LSO/Rostropovich which I think was the premiere recording just a few years after Shostakovich's death.

[Roasted Swan]

One of my favorite operas.  I saw it live by the SF Opera which was also great but to me, the best performance was LSO/Rostropovich which I think was the premiere recording just a few years after Shostakovich's death.

The Rostropovitch set is a must-hear.  The LPO is on fire and Vishnevskaya has to be heard.  By no means the only version and she was relatively old for the part but the direct personal link to DSCH makes this a historical document.  On DVD I really enjoyed this version;



Westbroek in the title part is very compelling and having Jansons and the Concertgebouw in the pit is pretty useful too(!)

[vers la flamme]

Thanks, everyone. It's settled then, I will have to check out the Rostropovich/LPO/Vishnevskaya recording of this famous opera.

I'm working my way through the Petrenko/RLPO symphonies cycle, currently up to the 10th, a symphony that I do not, for whatever reason, really like. Beyond this point is all uncharted territory for me. I'm excited to see what the late symphonies have to offer.

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, everyone. It's settled then, I will have to check out the Rostropovich/LPO/Vishnevskaya recording of this famous opera.

I'm working my way through the Petrenko/RLPO symphonies cycle, currently up to the 10th, a symphony that I do not, for whatever reason, really like. Beyond this point is all uncharted territory for me. I'm excited to see what the late symphonies have to offer.

I first heard the Tenth performed live at McGaw Chapel at the College of Wooster, by the Cleveland Orchestra led by Simon Rattle, and I was immediately, lastingly smitten.  OTOH, our Sarge, generally a keen fan has never quite cottoned to the Tenth, either.

[vers la flamme]

I first heard the Tenth performed live at McGaw Chapel at the College of Wooster, by the Cleveland Orchestra led by Simon Rattle, and I was immediately, lastingly smitten.  OTOH, our Sarge, generally a keen fan has never quite cottoned to the Tenth, either.

Interesting. I expect it might "click" with me eventually? I don't know, we'll see.

Well I ordered Lady Macbeth, the Rostropovich/LPO recording w/ Vishnevskaya. Very much looking forward to receiving it and spending time w/ the opera.