Shostakovich: The Gadfly; Five Days - Five Nights (Suites)

Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Theodore Kuchar (Conductor), Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), National Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
• Conductor: Theodore Kuchar
• Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
• Audio CD (February 4, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B0000014DC
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,736 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a pleasant surprise!, March 8, 2006

By 

Patrick W. Crabtree "The Old Grottomaster" (Lucasville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shostakovich: The Gadfly; Five Days - Five Nights (Suites) (Audio CD)

It is always a very pleasant surprise to have one's expectations so notably exceeded. As to the composer, I confess to being a great fan of Shostakovich and here, he seized upon a little known and tragic story ("The Gadfly," by E.L. Voynich) which renders a first-rate account of people in revolution and a society in upheaval -- and the music that Shostakovich composed for the film in this instance is just that: revolutionary. I believe that he composed nothing finer in all his filmscores. This achievement is historic and the "Introduction (Prelude, track 7)" may, in fact, just be the finest piece of melodic Classical Music ever written. It has that perfect astonishing Russian blend of Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Balakirev, Stravinsky and maybe even a little of Rachmaninoff! And that comment leads me to the rendition itself - I was astonished as to what a fine job the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Theodore Kuchar, conducting) did with this work. It is an historic achievement and I was very pleased at the quality of the sound on this CD (it's a DDD recording from 1995 at Kiev). The "Suite from Five Days -- Five Nights" (the second composition on this CD) is also a fine work and a perfect complement to "The Gadfly." My only reccommendation beyond what I have said so far would be to read the book as you listen to this recording which lends considerable enhancement to both media.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good CD, May 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Shostakovich: The Gadfly; Five Days - Five Nights (Suites) (Audio CD)

This is currently one of my favorite CD's. I admit I have not heard any other performances of the Gadfly Suite, but THIS one is good in any case. The violin and 'cello solos are well done, too. Also, the Gadfly Suite is generally considered to be among Shostakovich's better film scores.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gadfly music - treasure unrevealed, October 22, 2005

By 

Ytzan "Yannis" (Athens, GR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shostakovich: The Gadfly; Five Days - Five Nights (Suites) (Audio CD)

Since I have only heard another recording on the score on the radio I won't go into the quality of the conductor/orchestra which in my ears sound pretty good. It's just that this music score (The Gadfly) is one of the treasure of soundtrack music and I wonder how it comes and is not played more often. Listening more carefully I picked some lines that reminded me of some Rota scores, one of my favourite soundtrack composers. This is great music and at this modest price everybody should listen to it.