Shostakovich Symphonies, Cycles & Otherwise

[Drasko]

The sound on this new set is an improvement over the prior set and is much clearer. Distortions have been markedly reduced (the louder moments in Stepan Razin remain affected). The accompanying booklet contains a good in-depth discussion of all of the works in the set but it does not have, like the earlier set, any of the texts. Each CD is in a cardboard sleeve that has different woodcut illustrations on the face with a complete description of the contents on the CD, including timings, on the reverse. The CDs are held in a flimsy cardboard box that is certain to become slightly crushed or bent in one place or another. I would have preferred a hard case as with the older Kondrashin set.

[Michel]

God that does look flimsy....

[George]

But isn't that the old set? The review said that they'd prefer the more durable packaging on the old set. I'm confused...

[Michel]

Thats the new one, on Melod.

The "old" is Auros, or whatever that label is called.

[George]

No, I think the old one is the Melodiya.

From Music Web:

"Aulos, using DSD technology, have here produced a much more cleanly focused sound than BMG-Melodiya were able to do in 1994 when the discs were last issued. The transfer has also been done at a much higher level. It is a joy to hear and is surely the best CD account of those original tapes now between four decades and a quarter century old."

Aulos were released in January of this year. Was there another Melodiya release after that?

[George]

Or are they one in the same (in terms of transfers), with just different packaging (Melodiya having the added performances)?

January 2007: It proved to be almost impossible to find this Aulos release but the set has now been repacked by Melodiya on 11 CDs

[Drasko]

No, I think the old one is the Melodiya.

From Music Web:

"Aulos, using DSD technology, have here produced a much more cleanly focused sound than BMG-Melodiya were able to do in 1994 when the discs were last issued. The transfer has also been done at a much higher level. It is a joy to hear and is surely the best CD account of those original tapes now between four decades and a quarter century old."

Aulos were released in January of this year. Was there another Melodiya release after that?

Aulos is from 2003, I think, and bespectacled Melodiya is from 2006. Musicweb is refering to previous Melodiya release. 

[George]

Aulos is from 2003, I think, and bespectacled Melodiya is from 2006.  

So the two above releases are different transfers?

I think the Melodiya is preferable, as its from the original tapes.

I've also heard that the Aulos may have been overfiltered (by M Forever: See discussion here.)

[karlhenning]

OK, Kondrashin it is . . . . . . .    I like my Shosty rasping and red in tooth & claw . . . . .

Gosh, whenever I've actually listened to a recording which had been lauded with that phrase ("red in tooth & claw") I did not find that the music, itself, reflected that vivid depiction (though, in some cases, the recording was still very fine).

The Kondrashin recordings (not Shostakovich, BTW, at least not within the past twenty years) which I have heard have not so much struck me as "red in tooth & claw," as rather unkempt.

Anyway, you will have divined by now that I have grown wary of the phrase "red in tooth & claw" by now, having come to feel that when a reviewer speaks so, he's pushing a pig in a poke . . . .

[karlhenning]

FWIW, cardboard boxes with the sleeves do not trouble me at all.  At this point I have three such boxes (a Beethoven symphony set [Masur/Gewandhaus], Britten Operas II, and the Emersons playing the Shostakovich Quartets);  I don't think they are liable to any greater damage than the plastic jewel-cases.

[karlhenning]

Which Kondrashin?  The remastered?  The Melodiya contains two extra tone poems . . . . . .

Well, whether or not you do choose to go with the Kondrashin, at some point, you will want a recording of The Execution of Stepan Razin, Opus 119 

[karlhenning]

Now all we need is a wounded Gazelle for Haitink to the complete the metaphor! 

I revisited the Haitink recording of the Leningrad last night;  better than the Barshai (e.g.) IMO.

[Choo Choo]

God that does look flimsy....

I don't know that I'd worry.  The Gielen / Mahler box - another cardboard box containing disks in paper sleeves - arrived here the other day rattling around loose in a padded envelope - from someone who'd also bought it by post and then played it (a lot) - and there's not a mark on either the box, the sleeves, or the disks.

Whereas I couldn't begin to count the number of plastic boxes I've received which had cracked covers or broken hinges - or, more seriously, securing lugs which had shattered and so allowed the disks to scrape around across the fractured stubs in transit.

[George]

FWIW, cardboard boxes with the sleeves do not trouble me at all.  At this point I have three such boxes (a Beethoven symphony set [Masur/Gewandhaus], Britten Operas II, and the Emersons playing the Shostakovich Quartets);  I don't think they are liable to any greater damage than the plastic jewel-cases.

They take up less space, too. I much prefer them actually. 

[George]

I don't know that I'd worry.  The Gielen / Mahler box - another cardboard box containing disks in paper sleeves - arrived here the other day rattling around loose in a padded envelope - from someone who'd also bought it by post and then played it (a lot) - and there's not a mark on either the box, the sleeves, or the disks.

Whereas I couldn't begin to count the number of plastic boxes I've received which had cracked covers or broken hinges - or, more seriously, securing lugs which had shattered and so allowed the disks to scrape around across the fractured stubs in transit.

Exactly. 

[Michel]

I don't know that I'd worry.  The Gielen / Mahler box - another cardboard box containing disks in paper sleeves - arrived here the other day rattling around loose in a padded envelope - from someone who'd also bought it by post and then played it (a lot) - and there's not a mark on either the box, the sleeves, or the disks.

Whereas I couldn't begin to count the number of plastic boxes I've received which had cracked covers or broken hinges - or, more seriously, securing lugs which had shattered and so allowed the disks to scrape around across the fractured stubs in transit.

I agree, I hate plastic cases, they always smash. I particularly like the DG boxes, they are very robust. So is it just a normal card box? The thing about that photo is that it makes them look much thinner, etc than DG. And the cool thing about box sets is that they are chunky, bulky and sturdy, and satisfying to hold. Especially my 21 disc Schubert lieder box!

[Steve]

I agree, I hate plastic cases, they always smash. I particularly like the DG boxes, they are very robust. So is it just a normal card box? The thing about that photo is that it makes them look much thinner, etc than DG. And the cool thing about box sets is that they are chunky, bulky and sturdy, and satisfying to hold. Especially my 21 disc Schubert lieder box!

Having just read some of these posts, I was rather worried about the condition of this recording when it arrived. But,
i construction is like a DG Set, where the sleeves are thin, but the box is taut and sturdy, I have no problem.

[George]

Having just read some of these posts, I was rather worried about the condition of this recording when it arrived. But,
i construction is like a DG Set, where the sleeves are thin, but the box is taut and sturdy, I have no problem.

So it already arrived?

[BachQ]

So . . . . . . . . can we all agree that this Kondrashin performance is a wise choice (Melodiya with bespectacled cover)?

[karlhenning]

I respectfully abstain  0:)