Dmitri's Dacha

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

[Mirror Image]

I bought these two Shostakovich operas last night:



What does everybody think of these two? I read that Lady Macbeth upset Stalin that he left during intermission. Hmmm....sounds like it's right up my alley. I usually like operas that off the beaten path like Bartok's Bluebeard or Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortileges for example.

[Renfield]

The Petrenko 10th has landed (on my doormat). I'll spin it sometime between now and tomorrow afternoon, and report back.

[Sergeant Rock]

Well, the symphonies are perfect for me, as the sound of the string quartet (or similar group) has never sat well upon my ears. Too shrill, too timbrally monotonous.

You and Mrs. Rock have similar taste. Chamber music is Kammermusik in German. But she calls it Jammermusik (Jammer= misery, howling lament) 


Sarge

[Brian]

I bought these two Shostakovich operas last night:

A friend who's writing her master's dissertation on Lady Macbeth played me a few YouTube clips of highlights from the opera, and they were absolutely riveting. I remember especially a scene where a drunk peasant finds a body, being written and played as if the score and musicians were all on fire. Truly a wild, electric opera if those highlights were indicative. I have my eyes on that CD.

[karlhenning]

You absolutely want it, Brian.

[Mirror Image]

A friend who's writing her master's dissertation on Lady Macbeth played me a few YouTube clips of highlights from the opera, and they were absolutely riveting. I remember especially a scene where a drunk peasant finds a body, being written and played as if the score and musicians were all on fire. Truly a wild, electric opera if those highlights were indicative. I have my eyes on that CD.

I haven't heard it (yet), Brian, but I imagine you would want to pick it up as the audio samples I heard were right up my alley. I usually like 20th Century operas that a little off-the-wall.

[Brahmsian]

The Petrenko 10th has landed (on my doormat). I'll spin it sometime between now and tomorrow afternoon, and report back.

Russian Liquid Nitrogen!

[snyprrr]

I just can't listen to DSCH anymore. Maybe it's the 'Freebird Syndrome': I've neurally mapped his music in my mind, so, if I want to hear it, I just have to think about it.

I still want to hear SQs 4-5 every now and then, and I love the two late string sonatas.

[Renfield]

I have that 'neural mapping' problem with the Mahler 9th.


And I know I owe some impressions on the Petrenko 10th... At the very least, I can say I won't ask for my five quid back!

Sadly, you may have to wait a little for the longer version, as it requires more time than I have right now to type up.

[karlhenning]

I do not have that "neural mapping" problem at all, no matter how well I know any piece.  I don't know, just from knowing the score of a piece, how a given performance will go of it.  So I find any recording value added.  (I suppose I haven't played any particular recording of any Shostakovich work "to destruction"; but again, I expect that in a worst case, I should need to avoid a recording, not the piece itself.)

[Mirror Image]

I bought this complete recording of the ballet The Bolt many months ago and I'm finally going to listen to it hopefully by tonight, what do you guys think about the work and, in particular, this recording:

[Brian]

November on Naxos:



"This recording of New Babylon, one of Shostakovich's most inventive and truly symphonic film scores, is the first complete recording of all the surviving music from the original 'lost' manuscript full score and the first to use five solo string players only, as conceived by the composer. A remarkable collage of marches, can-cans, carnival music, tumultuous rhythms and musical quotations, New Babylon bristles with witty dissonance and brassy ebullience, emphasizing the film's content rather than its visual surface. Mark Fitz-Gerald's two previous Naxos world première recordings of Shostakovich's film scores for Alone (8.570316) and The Girlfriends (8.572138) have been highly acclaimed."

[karlhenning]

Brilliant, Brian! I've been itching to hear that score for years.

[Mirror Image]

Nobody with any comments concerning the ballet The Bolt, what the hell is wrong with you bunch of misfits?

[Opus106]

http://www.quartets.de/

A website dedicated to the string quartets of Shostakovich. A cursory glance at the write-ups seems to suggest a slightly technical discussion of the works, but I'm sure that a layman can pick up a thing or two also.

[Brahmsian]

http://www.quartets.de/

A website dedicated to the string quartets of Shostakovich. A cursory glance at the write-ups seems to suggest a slightly technical discussion of the works, but I'm sure that a layman can pick up a thing or two also.

Navneeth, thank you so much for providing this link!   

So far, do you have a particular favourite among Shostakovich's quartets, Nav?

My current favourite is # 4, followed by # 10 and then of course after that is the famous # 8   

[Opus106]

So far, do you have a particular favourite among Shostakovich's quartets, Nav?

None at the moment. In fact, I'm not very familiar with that set of works.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Think I've mentioned it before, but Wendy Lesser's book on the DSCH quartets Music for Silenced Voices looks very worth reading. Here's a review:

http://www.najp.org/articles/2011/04/review-wendy-lessers-music-for.html

[karlhenning]

I browsed that book once, it sort of rubbed me mildly the wrong way for some reason(s) or other . . . .