Dmitri's Dacha

[Brahmsian]

He was a great composer for the ballet and this is just such a brilliant set (CHAN 7000/1), Neeme Jarvi at his peppery best - even the "Festive Overture" which I normally can't abide zips along and awakens occasional interest, plus you get bits from "Lady Macbeth" in the guise of "Katerina Ismailova". The RSNO play like demons...




As with their frankly chaotic Bax catalogue, Chandos should box up all of their wonderful Shostakovich and Prokofiev and flog it far and wide.

I love Shostakovich's ballets, especially The Golden Age.  If you haven't done so, I recommend checking the complete ballets.







This disc with the 4 Ballet Suites with Jablonsky conducting is also a real treat! 

[relm1]

I am a fan of Shostakovich but haven't heard much of his ballets.  How to approach them?

[Brahmsian]

I am a fan of Shostakovich but haven't heard much of his ballets.  How to approach them?

I would personally just dive right in, as I feel they are highly "approachable" works. Definitely highlighting the lighter and humurous side of Shostakovich.

There are suites to The Bolt and Golden Age, and also the two Jazz Suite, along with the four Ballet Suites mentioned above.

Numerous recordings of the suites. Another one I like is the Dance Album, conducted by Chailly on Decca. It features The Bolt suite, a suite for his operetta Moscow-Cheryomushki and excepts of film music from The Gadlfly. A terrific disc!

[Karl Henning]

I am a fan of Shostakovich but haven't heard much of his ballets.  How to approach them?

I'd go in feet first with The Golden Age.

[Albion]

I love Shostakovich's ballets, especially The Golden Age.  If you haven't done so, I recommend checking the complete ballets.

Great recommendations, thanks - that's this month's rent down the khazi (I've still got to find enough cash to get the Brilliant Classics Respighi box)...

[Brahmsian]

I'd go in feet first with The Golden Age.

Slightly disagree. 

[Karl Henning]

Slightly disagree. 

(* chortle *)

[Brahmsian]

Just beginning my journey today in the Jansons' symphony cycle.  Here, the 10th with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

I start off with the 10th, as I cannot think of a better way to begin the cycle, with the sounds of the opening movement and development of the 10th.  It seems like the best kickoff starter. 

And boy, it IS a great 10th.  Consistent, great performance from start to finish.  Hat tip to Karl for mentioning that. @Karl Tirebiter Henning

Also tagging @Sergeant Rock since I know this is one of his favourite symphonies.   

[Karl Henning]

Dipping in at random:

Novorossiisk Chimes (The Flame of Eternal Glory) Op. 111b (1960)
I've found a story that bears on this piece, which I'll post at the Dacha.

While writing his Eighth Symphony, Shostakovich took time out to participate in the competition for a new national anthem to replace the "Internationale," which had been in use since 1917. like many of the nearly 200 competitors, Shostakovich penned multiple anthems; one was on a text by Yevgeny Dolmatovsky, another used a variant of the winning text by Sergey Mikhalkov and El-Registan. at some point during the competition, Marshal Voroshilov suggested that  Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturyan collaborate to submit a joint entry. Their joint anthem, in addition to their individual entries, made it to the third and final round, which was adjudicated in the Bolshoi Theater. The Red Army chorus and the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra presented each anthem separately, and then with combined forces, for consideration by members of the party and government. During one of these screenings, in late autumn 1943,  Shostakovich and Khachaturyan were summoned to Stalin's box. The story has undoubtedly been embellished in the retelling, but its main issue is clear. in the course of the conversation Stalin expounded his ideas about the ideal national anthem. He praised the entry by A.V. Alexandrov, which adapted the Mikhalkov-El-Registan text to a well known song, "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party," composed in 1939. When Stalin criticized the orchestration of this anthem and Alexandrov tried to shift the blame for his orchestration to Viktor Kushnevitsky, who had in fact orchestrated many of the entries, Shostakovich challenged Alexandrov and accused him of lying. Afterward he explained the reason for his incautious outburst: "But why did he try to ruin Kushnevitsky? After all,  Kushnevitsky is in the military. They could dispatch him the devil knows where." This incident notwithstanding, when the announcement was made in late December, it was Alexandrov's music that had been chosen for the new national anthem. On request,  Shostakovich played his anthem to his students in the fall of 1943, showed them the text and encouraged them to compose music to it. with text substitution, the Shostakovich-Khachaturyan anthem became the "Song of the Red Army."  Shostakovich recycled the song he had originally written on the  Mikhalkov-El-Registan text into the score of another review for the NKVD Song and Dance Ensemble, Russian River, Op. 66, which premiered in Moscow on 17 April 1944. (Its opening melodic phrases later served as the basis for Novorossiisk Chimes, composed in 1960.)

Laurel Fay,  Shostakovich: A Life, pp. 139-140.

The NKVD was the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Imagine the US Department of the interior having a song and dance ensemble.

It may go without saying, but the first time I read the Fay, I had no idea about  Novorossiisk Chimes.

[Karl Henning]

Novorossiisk Chimes (The Flame of Eternal Glory) Op. 111b (1960)

There's more:
The Eighth Quartet was not the only composition completed by Shostakovich during the summer of 1960. On 15 September he sent off tape and score of a brief musical tribute commemorating the victims who died in the World War II battle to liberate Novorossiisk (for which he recycled material from one of his abandoned wartime attempts at a national anthem). City authorities, who had originally turned to him hoping he would supervise the selection of suitable excerpts from the classics, were overwhelmed by the gift of a specially written homage. Novorossiisk Chimes established itself as a model for memorial installations. As of 27 September 1960, the tape plays hourly at the eternal flame in Novorossiisk's Heroes Square. the first two phrases were also adapted as the musical cue for the late evening news on Moscow Radio.


Laurel Fay,  Shostakovich: A Life, pp. 220.

[Sergeant Rock]

Also tagging @Sergeant Rock since I know this is one of his favourite symphonies.   

Ha! You know it's not. Are you suggesting I give the Janson a shot? Okay. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Sarge

[Brahmsian]

Ha! You know it's not. Are you suggesting I give the Janson a shot? Okay. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Sarge

Yes, I know that. I said it in jest as I know you aren't a fan of the 10th symphony in general, even though you are an enthusiastic Shostakovich symphony fan in general. 

[vandermolen]

I've been greatly enjoying the new Chandos CD of symphonies 12 and 15 (Storgards BBC Philharmonic) which, I suspect, will be one of my 'Discs of the Year' due to the unique combination of works. I was reading a favourable review in the latest Gramophone Magazine which stated 'I still retain great affection for Georges Pretre recording of Twelth (HMV,11/63) but this pairing is in another league'. When I looked up the Pretre LP recording I recognised it as it featured in my older brother's LP collection (on Classics for Pleasure) when I was growing up and was first interested in classical music. I don't think that there was ever a single CD release although I may be wrong. It does however feature in a Georges Pretre boxed set:

[relm1]

I've been greatly enjoying the new Chandos CD of symphonies 12 and 15 (Storgards BBC Philharmonic) which, I suspect, will be one of my 'Discs of the Year' due to the unique combination of works. I was reading a favourable review in the latest Gramophone Magazine which stated 'I still retain great affection for Georges Pretre recording of Twelth (HMV,11/63) but this pairing is in another league'. When I looked up the Pretre LP recording I recognised it as it featured in my older brother's LP collection (on Classics for Pleasure) when I was growing up and was first interested in classical music. I don't think that there was ever a single CD release although I may be wrong. It does however feature in a Georges Pretre boxed set:

His 12 isn't that good.  His 15 is wonderful.

[brewski]

Listening live to Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1, with Johannes Moser in fiery form, and the Minnesota Orchestra with conductor Michael Francis.

https://www.yourclassical.org/mpr

-Bruce

[vandermolen]

His 12 isn't that good.  His 15 is wonderful.

Which is your favourite No.12?

[Roasted Swan]

I had that CFP LP - I am still amazed how clearly I remember the cover after all these years (and can't remember what I had for tea yesterday - but that's another story). The version of 12 that hit me first/most was this one;



(someone will know if this is an authentic Russian Revolution era canon!).  Returning to this performance now I can understand why it made an impact.  Obviously not nearly as well recorded as the new Chandos bt I still prefer the performance - greater edge and urgency.  On CD it got released with a fine Stenka Razin;



which also wears its years well.  The symphony performance was the main choice (albeit a limited one!) in



which was my early-years bible for DSCH symphonies as it listed preferred recodings but also gave pretty basic (but helpful) analyses of the works......

[relm1]

Which is your favourite No.12?

Haitink/Decca/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - a great sense of grandeur in this one.

[vandermolen]

Haitink/Decca/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - a great sense of grandeur in this one.

Thanks 

[Karl Henning]

Holding this book in my hands, which is still rather a deliberate activity, while I recover the use of my left fingers, my muscle memory is reminding me of pleasures of the past. I was searching the index for Novorossiisk Chimes, which I knew would be there even though I remembered nought of it from when I read through the book years before. That task done, I found myself browsing the index with no definite aim. I am not saying by any means that it is impossible with e-books, only that I have never done so with e-books. Thus my eye came across an iconically politically incorrect entry, which rather piqued my curiosity. So here let me share another passage from the Fay.

The year 1926 began auspiciously. On New Year's Eve Shostakovich dreamed that he was walking in the desert when suddenly an old man appeared before him and predicted that he have a lucky year.  Shostakovich resolved to finish his Second Symphony quickly; he claimed he could already hear the whole work in his head. he also kept himself busy correcting the parts for his First Symphony and gratifying a passion for chess. He was delighted when Yavorsky [an influential figure in the musical life of Kiev and Moscow] helped expedite a professional trip to Moscow in early February, all expenses paid, to promote his music and that of other Leningrad student composers at the Moscow Conservatory, and he was pleased with his reception there. He reported that Myaskovsky and other luminaries at the Association of Contemporary Music (ASM) had promised had promised to include his symphony in their programs, that Yavorsky and  Myaskovsky were determined to put pressure on Leningrad musicians to find him more suitable employment, and that Tukhachevsky [a film director and pioneer of Soviet animated film who would later collaborate with Shostakovich on a number of projects] had found him a room and a job in Moscow, if he wanted it. when he showed the symphony, the Two Pieces for octet, and the Three Fantastic Dances to the music panel of the State Music Publisher on 9 February 1926 He was thrilled that everything was accepted for publication. he was finally beginning to make his mark in the world.

Shostakovich could no longer stomach the grind at the Picadilly [the cinema where he played as accompanist], and on his return to Leningrad he submitted his resignation. Relishing his freedom, he resumed attendance at concerts and other entertainments. He was impressed by Fritz Stiedry's performance of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. He judged Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, which received its Russian premiere in Leningrad in February 1926, exceptionally good.  The Jazz Band of Sam Wooding and the Chocolate Kiddies—who performed what was billed as a "negro operetta" at the Leningrad Music Hall during a three-month Russian tour—was, to Shostakovich, a musical revelation of America. The vitality and enthusiasm of the performers also made an indelible impression, and he was awe-struck by the twelve ferocious Bengal tigers that formed a pyramid rolled balls and leaped through Flaming hoops at the circus.

Laurel Fay,  Shostakovich: A Life, pp. 30-31.

Prokofievophiles will recall the peculiar turn of Fate, that the première of The Love for Three Oranges took place in Chicago.