Customer Reviews

The Best of Shostakovich

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This CD opens a door for me to explore the huge music treasure of Shostakovich. I love every piece of music on this CD. "The Gadfly" film score suit is especially beautiful and performed by first-class musicians in National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. There is too little, this is the only problem with this CD to me.

This is an excellent sampling of the music of one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century, displaying a wide range of emotion, from the enthusiasm of the first selection, the Festive Overture, to the soaring lyrical beauty of the Romance (track 5), to the poetry of the andante movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 (track 9), to the slow, deep, intensity of the Largo movement of the Piano Trio No. 2 (track 13), very movingly performed by the Stockholm Arts Trio.

At the same time that the various musical selections exhibit Shostakovich's range and diversity, they are nonetheless arranged in such a way that the listener doesn't experience any unpleasant impact from the sudden change in tempo that occurs, for example, when the Romance in track 5 ends, and the very next selection is the highly energetic allegro movement from the Symphony No. 10. Rather, the feeling is one of stimulation and excitement as one moves, from one selection to the next, through the wonderful variety of Shostakovich's compositions.

The quality of the musicianship on every track is first rate, including the selections played by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and its talented conductor, Theodore Kuchar. The andante movemont of the Piano Concerto No. 2 is a slice of musical heaven, played wonderfully by pianist Michael Houston and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. There is power, intensity, tenderness, subtlety, and great beauty in the wonderful performances on this very reasonably priced CD. The sound engineering is also first rate, with crystal clear sound and excellent balance of the instruments. For those who want to hear a greater number of selections from this composer, Naxos has now released the two-CD "The Very Best of Shostakovitch."

Amongst the "Best of" or "Greatest Hits of" classical music CD's that I have, this is one of the best. Highly recommended.

Pursuant to the previous review: Since there is now a listing supplied, I guess that the disc should now be considered a five star masterpiece.

I'm not reviewing the CD, I'm reviewing your listing. What's with this "Best of" title where I can't find out what's on the CD. Better info please.