Dmitri's Dacha

[BasilValentine]

Probably throwing a whole cacophony of cats in amongst the pigeons but while you are enjoying the music can I suggest a couple of background books too......  I am NOT suggesting these are the last word/authoritative biographies or studies but I have enjoyed all these and felt they added to my understanding and appreciation of DSCH;



yes yes yes - whether it is "true" or not I found this opened up the world of DSCH to me.....



a kind-of "novel"  but so compelling and powerful..... and terrifying



just a good read.... and lastly....



a testament to the human spirit....     But of course as ever - just enjoy the music!

An alternate opinion: Testimony is a fraud. The Barnes is thin and disappointing. The New Shostakovich contains some of the most idiotic music criticism I've read. Meow.

[Roasted Swan]

An alternate opinion: Testimony is a fraud. The Barnes is thin and disappointing. The New Shostakovich contains some of the most idiotic music criticism I've read. Meow.

Bless you.  Of course all your statements might well be true.  But then neither do I say that I simply absorb and regurgitate all/anything written here as being unquestionably "true".  What I do feel is that reading ALL these books have widened my understanding and appreciation of DSCH and his age. But as I say Bless you for such a considered response.

[Karl Henning]

And I got yet another new Shostakovich CD today, Maxim Vengerov playing the 2nd violin concerto (coupled with the 2nd VC of Prokofiev; I am very excited to hear both!), Rostropovich conducting.

Very nice!

[JBS]

I found this biography to be detailed enough to be useful, and fairly well balanced.


She gives a thorough review of the reasons why Testimony is indeed a fraud, but concludes there is probably a hard layer of  Shostakovich  inside.  Sort of, DSCH did not probably say explicity the things the book claims he said, but he may have said similar things less explicitly, and probably did think that way.

[vandermolen]

An alternate opinion: Testimony is a fraud. The Barnes is thin and disappointing. The New Shostakovich contains some of the most idiotic music criticism I've read. Meow.

I've enjoyed all of these books. My brother bought me the Barnes book but I haven't read it yet. This, however, is my favourite book about Shostakovich. I saw her give an interesting talk about Shostakovich in Cambridge a few years ago.

[Karl Henning]

I listened to the E minor Piano Trio, op.67 a little earlier. A damn fine, elegiac work. I never noticed this before, but it at times almost reminds me of Mahler's first symphony, with its juxtaposition of folksy quasi-Jewish themes with more funereal motifs and atmospheres. Probably one of Shostakovich's darker works, no?

Good ear: Indeed the work is dedicated to his musicologist friend Ivan Sollertinsky, who died suddenly 11 Feb 1944. The piece was conceived while his friend was yet alive. Sollertinsky was responsible for introducing Shostakovich to the music of Mahler.

[Karl Henning]

I found this biography to be detailed enough to be useful, and fairly well balanced.


She gives a thorough review of the reasons why Testimony is indeed a fraud, but concludes there is probably a hard layer of  Shostakovich  inside.  Sort of, DSCH did not probably say explicity the things the book claims he said, but he may have said similar things less explicitly, and probably did think that way.

I've enjoyed all of these books. My brother bought me the Barnes book but I haven't read it yet. This, however, is my favourite book about Shostakovich. I saw her give an interesting talk about Shostakovich in Cambridge a few years ago.

Both the Fay and Wilson are excellent.

[Roasted Swan]

Both the Fay and Wilson are excellent.

I like Fay too and her viewpoint of Testimony seems to me spot on.

[vers la flamme]

Ah, so many book suggestions. I think I will try and read at least two this year: Testimony–fraud or not, I really want to read it; it seems like an entertaining read–and at least one other book to counter Volkov's perspective with something a little more rooted in fact. Anyway, thanks everyone, I will have to parse through these suggestions and decide which one(s) I think I will enjoy.

Good ear: Indeed the work is dedicated to his musicologist friend Ivan Sollertinsky, who died suddenly 11 Feb 1944. The piece was conceived while his friend was yet alive. Sollertinsky was responsible for introducing Shostakovich to the music of Mahler.

Wow! I had heard that it was dedicated to a friend who died young, and I suppose knowing that may have colored my perception of the music as elegiac. But that's all I knew. Fascinating. I wonder how Mahler's music was received by the Russian people at that time (first half of the 20th C.)–if I had to guess, nothing like it is perceived today.

Listening to the excellent Piano Quartet in G minor, op.57 right now. Borodin Trio, w/ Mimi Zweig and Jerry Horner, from the same CD as the trio, on Chandos. Excellent music. I think I like the quintet even better. I have another recording with the Beethoven Quartet and Shostakovich himself on piano, now that's a great performance.

[Karl Henning]

Ah, so many book suggestions. I think I will try and read at least two this year: Testimony–fraud or not, I really want to read it; it seems like an entertaining read–and at least one other book to counter Volkov's perspective with something a little more rooted in fact. Anyway, thanks everyone, I will have to parse through these suggestions and decide which one(s) I think I will enjoy.

Good ear: Indeed the work is dedicated to his musicologist friend Ivan Sollertinsky, who died suddenly 11 Feb 1944. The piece was conceived while his friend was yet alive. Sollertinsky was responsible for introducing Shostakovich to the music of Mahler.

Wow! I had heard that it was dedicated to a friend who died young, and I suppose knowing that may have colored my perception of the music as elegiac. But that's all I knew. Fascinating. I wonder how Mahler's music was received by the Russian people at that time (first half of the 20th C.)–if I had to guess, nothing like it is perceived today.

Listening to the excellent Piano Quartet in G minor, op.57 right now. Borodin Trio, w/ Mimi Zweig and Jerry Horner, from the same CD as the trio, on Chandos. Excellent music. I think I like the quintet even better. I have another recording with the Beethoven Quartet and Shostakovich himself on piano, now that's a great performance.

The Volkov is worth reading, just with an awareness that it is not quite what Volkov claims it is.

[Herman]

Reviewers considered the 14th one of Petrenko's best.

So maybe one person's reservations are not an immediate reason for another purchase before even listening for oneself.

Certainly not if that one person is ME.

Nr. 14 is just a very hard piece to get right in the studio, it's sort of begging for an audience to bounce the drama back.

The other thing is, you can get most of these Petrenko singles for very little money on the secondary market, so the risk is not that great, and just maybe the recording pushes yr buttons.

I guess I prefer the messier and more urgent Kondrashin recording, but I believe this is very hard to get at the mo.

There was a time, something like fifteen years ago, I was a mere lad, barely out of the crib, everybody on GMG (incl cats and dogs) was ordering the Aulos Melodyia reissue from Korea, this was way before global warming  and I have yet to regret this purchase.

[Herman]

The Elizabeth Wilson book is indispensable. It's very good on the string quartets, too.

I could be called a Julian Barnes fan, but I thought the DSCH book was not very good.

I'm getting the feeling Barnes is more or less clearing his desk in a rather uninspired way with his latest books.

(Yeah, I'm that kind of fan!)

[relm1]

Ah, so many book suggestions. I think I will try and read at least two this year: Testimony–fraud or not, I really want to read it; it seems like an entertaining read–and at least one other book to counter Volkov's perspective with something a little more rooted in fact. Anyway, thanks everyone, I will have to parse through these suggestions and decide which one(s) I think I will enjoy.

Testimony is an entertaining read as long as you don't read it as history but rather Volkov's impressions as told through disingenuous assertions placed onto Shostakovich.  Shostakovich a Life (Fay) is a better book if you want to understand this complex man.

[BasilValentine]

Bless you.  Of course all your statements might well be true.  But then neither do I say that I simply absorb and regurgitate all/anything written here as being unquestionably "true".  What I do feel is that reading ALL these books have widened my understanding and appreciation of DSCH and his age. But as I say Bless you for such a considered response.

My apologies for being short with you. Reading Testimony as if it was the actual testimony of Shostakovich is not a good way to widen ones understanding of Shostakovich because nothing in it that is uncorroborated by reliable other sources can be trusted. The most important documents on the validity of Testimony are Laurel Fay's "Shostakovich versus Volkov: Whose Testimony?" (1980) and her updated version of this essay, "Volkov's Testimony Reconsidered" (2002). Both are published in Malcolm Hamrick Brown's A Shostakovich Casebook. Both stand unrefuted as devastating indictments of Volkov's fraud.

First hand testimony about Shostakovich can be found in Shostakovich: A Life Remembered by Elizabeth Wilson, which quotes many who new the composer. Richard Taruskin eviscerates the critical methods applied in The New Shostakovich in his brilliant essay, "Public Lies and Unspeakable Truth: Interpreting Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony" (In Shostakovich Studies, ed. David Fanning Cambridge UP, pp. 17-52)

An interesting fictionalized Shostakovich can be found in pages 622-727 of William T. Vollmann's great novel, Europe Central. The section of the book is titled "Opus 110," referring to Shostakovich's 8th quartet.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Testimony might have been worth reading if it had been marketed as a novel based on the author's personal experiences with a fictionalized DSCH. As it stands, it's worthless because there's no way of knowing what's real and what's fictional.

I see V. Askhenazy wrote a preface to MacDonald's crazy book. I wonder what he found worthwhile about it?

Has any1 read Wendy Lesser's Music for Silenced Voices? In theory it looks interesting, but on the other hand it looks like it might be "I'm no expert in music, but this is my personal response to these fascinating quartets", which is probably not so good, at least not at book length.

DSCH has certainly been a boon for writers looking to spin their theories.

[aukhawk]

I'm enjoying getting into Laurel Fay's A Life - though she is unashamedly as dry and objective as can be, still I keep encountering interesting nuggets - I didn't know for example that both Dmitri's parents hailed from deepest Siberia - Irkutsk, practically Mongolia by looking at the map.  Nor that his mother was musically talented and had studied at the conservatory in St Petersburg.

[JBS]

Amazon popped this up at me. Anyone heard any of it?
[asin]B07PB1S58D[/asin]


ETA
Never mind. I just realized I have the Tenth in its original issue (combined with Beethoven 3), not impressed enough to get a whole cycle.

[Mirror Image]

Amazon popped this up at me. Anyone heard any of it?
[asin]B07PB1S58D[/asin]


ETA
Never mind. I just realized I have the Tenth in its original issue (combined with Beethoven 3), not impressed enough to get a whole cycle.

I want going to say something, but you beat me to it. Yeah, nothing special.

[Karl Henning]

An alternate opinion: Testimony is a fraud. The Barnes is thin and disappointing. The New Shostakovich contains some of the most idiotic music criticism I've read. Meow.

Bless you.  Of course all your statements might well be true.  But then neither do I say that I simply absorb and regurgitate all/anything written here as being unquestionably "true".  What I do feel is that reading ALL these books have widened my understanding and appreciation of DSCH and his age. But as I say Bless you for such a considered response.

I still remember the pleasure with which I discovered and purchased The New Shostakovich at the Borders in Rochester. I was genuinely grateful for it at the time, as there were names and facts which I read therein for the first time.

It was also clear early on that what MacDonald offered as "musical analysis" was irredeemably shallow.

[vandermolen]

Any view on this set?
I have No.11 '1905' which I thought was an excellent performance.


I'm interested in this recent Dutton double album (symphonies 5 and 15 plus Kodaly's 'Hary Janos') as well: