Shostakovich Symphonies, Cycles & Otherwise

[North Star]

Okay. I'll do that. I skipped the first and second symphonies because some reviewer said they weren't that good. Probably someone writing in the Penguin Guide. I don't remember.

I'm now listening to the fourth movement of the tenth. I think this is going to be a favorite movement.

Thanks, Karl.

I'd suggest skipping Penguin Guide instead. The Shostakovich symphonies are great, and Karl's suggestion is excellent; listen to nos. 11-14 next, then no. 1 & 15.

[Karl Henning]

Aye, if anything I do prefer the Second to the Third.

[jlaurson]

I'd suggest skipping Penguin Guide instead. The Shostakovich symphonies are great, and Karl's suggestion is excellent; listen to nos. 11-14 next, then no. 1 & 15.

Then the 4th and 5th. Or maybe the 4th right away. It had a bad rap for many years, but it is not only one of his finest, it contains all the seeds of all that would become Shostakovich's music. And, for better or worse, it's the most obviously close DSCH ever got to his Symphony-hero Mahler.



assorted DSCH-links:


Mariss Jansons's DSCH-4

Shostakovich, Symphony No.4, Gergiev & Barshai

Gergiev's Munich Shostakovich - Symphonies 6 & 10

Gergiev's Munich Shostakovich - Symphonies 7 & 9

Gergiev's Munich Shostakovich - Symphonies 1 & 4

Gergiev's Munich Shostakovich - Symphonies 11 & 15

Ionarts-at-Large: The Admirable, Adorable Stanisław Skrowaczewski

[Jay F]

I'm now at the organ movement of the Eleventh. Sublime.

And now into the tense, military-movie-music-like second movement of the Eleventh. How exciting.

Thanks for the suggestions, all of you.

[North Star]

Then the 4th and 5th. Or maybe the 4th right away. It had a bad rap for many years, but it is not only one of his finest, it contains all the seeds of all that would become Shostakovich's music. And, for better or worse, it's the most obviously close DSCH ever got to his Symphony-hero Mahler.

Yes! The 4th is one of the best of the whole cycle. Definitely listen to these two together, too.

[Jay F]

I created little playlists with DSCH 1 & 15 and DSCH 4 & 5.

[Karl Henning]

Jay, where are you in your cycle?

[Karl Henning]

Half the time, the Tenth is my favorite Shostakovich symphony.

Yes! The 4th is one of the best of the whole cycle. Definitely listen to these two together, too.

The other half, it's the Fourth. Though I freely confess, I do like them all, and mighty well.

[Jay F]

Jay, where are you in your cycle?

Hi, Karl - I stopped in the middle of No. 14. After listening to "Babi Yar," I just couldn't hear any more Russian singing. I got involved in the HD Tracks page, listening mainly to "better sounding" pop and rock clips (Grateful Dead, Linda Ronstadt, the Doors), and then listened to everything I have by R.E.M. on iTunes shuffle.

After I finished R.E.M., I listened to DSCH 1 and 15 in sequence, which is very pleasing. Thank you for the suggestion. Then I went to bed. I am going to listen to that playlist again, and the combined 4 & 5.

Today, my Webern box set arrived, and I'm listening to Disc 1. I'm on Schubert's "German Dances" now, and like it a lot. Does this mean I like Schubert or Webern? (I already know I like Schubert.)

[North Star]

Hi, Karl - I stopped in the middle of No. 14. After listening to "Babi Yar," I just couldn't hear any more Russian singing. I got involved in the HD Tracks page, listening mainly to "better sounding" pop and rock clips (Grateful Dead, Linda Ronstadt, the Doors), and then listened to everything I have by R.E.M. on iTunes shuffle.

After I finished R.E.M., I listened to DSCH 1 and 15 in sequence, which is very pleasing. Thank you for the suggestion. Then I went to bed. I am going to listen to that playlist again, and the combined 4 & 5.

Today, my Webern box set arrived, and I'm listening to Disc 1. I'm on Schubert's "German Dances" now, and like it a lot. Does this mean I like Schubert or Webern? (I already know I like Schubert.)

Taking a break between 13 & 14 is totally understandable. Maybe you ought to listen to one with no vocals between 13 & 14?

[Karl Henning]

Hi, Karl - I stopped in the middle of No. 14. After listening to "Babi Yar," I just couldn't hear any more Russian singing. I got involved in the HD Tracks page, listening mainly to "better sounding" pop and rock clips (Grateful Dead, Linda Ronstadt, the Doors), and then listened to everything I have by R.E.M. on iTunes shuffle.

After I finished R.E.M., I listened to DSCH 1 and 15 in sequence, which is very pleasing. Thank you for the suggestion. Then I went to bed. I am going to listen to that playlist again, and the combined 4 & 5.

Today, my Webern box set arrived, and I'm listening to Disc 1. I'm on Schubert's "German Dances" now, and like it a lot. Does this mean I like Schubert or Webern? (I already know I like Schubert.)

So far, that you like Schubert 

Webern's soundworld is very different (and likeable, IMO).

Understand completely about absorbing only so much Russian singing (as I understand Russian, I have a similar limitation with certain other languages). Then, too, the Fourteenth is a very different kettle of fish to the Thirteenth.

Have you gone back to check out the Second, yet?

[Jay F]

Taking a break between 13 & 14 is totally understandable. Maybe you ought to listen to one with no vocals between 13 & 14?

Good idea.

[Jay F]

Have you gone back to check out the Second, yet?

No, I haven't gotten to it yet. The Webern box set came this morning in the mail. I'm listening to its second disc now. I'm mad about my Austrians, maybe because my grandfather was from Austria (I never met him, though). I like Shostakovich equally, or more, however.

[Karl Henning]

Well, you've certainly plunged right in!

[Jay F]

Well, you've certainly plunged right in!

I'm so glad there is still this much music I'd not listened to before. I thought Mahler, Schubert, Beethoven, and Mozart were all I needed. Oh, and Bach, of course.

[Karl Henning]

I find that one's ears grow bigger over time, unless we lock up 

[Karl Henning]

[ Cross-post ]

For me personally, the funniest item orbiting around this review is . . . When Peter Bloom and I were chatting after our King's Chapel recital, something Peter mentioned triggered an amusing Wooster memory.

For my very last jury at Wooster, there were only two jurors:  my clarinet instructor, and the flute instructor (an adjunct faculty member who came onto campus two days a week to give lessons).  I played something which not long before I had played (and played quite well) for my senior recital.  My clarinet instructor, Nancy, was entirely satisfied with my playing for the jury.  The other juror's comments on the sheet were brief, and went thus:  You played fast, you played slow. So what?

Happily, my own teacher was there to put this into context, so that my spirit was not shattered.  But, as I say, I felt I had played very well, and my instructor felt the same.

Now, I have not yet listened to the Petrenko account of the Op.43 . . . and probably, especially as a result of this meh review, I should wait until I can give the piece undivided attention, this Sunday or Monday.  But I can easily envision a case where the performance and recording are excellent, and Dan Morgan's 650-word review boils down to:  You played fast, you played slow. So what?

[Brian]

Now that I've given the review my undivided attention, I agree it's an example of how unhelpful reviews can be.

Helpful discussion:
- "the perky march rhythms lack menace and that the sudden car-crash of a climax at 7:04 passes for precious little"

Unhelpful bits:
- what does it mean to say that someone is playing music rhetorically?
- what does it mean to say that a performance of Shostakovich is raunchy?
- what are "spectral interventions"?
- "one feels both violated and liberated at the end" - are we comparing this symphony to rape?

I like that story, Karl. I might borrow "You played fast, you played slow, so what?" as a great metaphor for this kind of thing.

[Karl Henning]

Not sure I can help myself, and I may play the Petrenko today even though I am apt to be distracted . . . .

[Parsifal]

Now that I've given the review my undivided attention, I agree it's an example of how unhelpful reviews can be.

Helpful discussion:
- "the perky march rhythms lack menace and that the sudden car-crash of a climax at 7:04 passes for precious little"

Unhelpful bits:
- what does it mean to say that someone is playing music rhetorically?
- what does it mean to say that a performance of Shostakovich is raunchy?
- what are "spectral interventions"?
- "one feels both violated and liberated at the end" - are we comparing this symphony to rape?

I like that story, Karl. I might borrow "You played fast, you played slow, so what?" as a great metaphor for this kind of thing.

Your supposedly unhelpful bits strike me as being as helpful as anything I've read in a review.  Violated and liberated does not necessarily mean rape.  I wish all of the reviews I've seen had this much information in them.  Of course, he is critical of your boy so you are going to say it is a bad review.

I reiterate, most valuable thing in the review is that Wigglesworth has a recording of the piece on BIS.  Already in my shopping cart.  Now I'm looking for the best price.