Shostakovich: Symphonies 1 & 3

Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Conductor), USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Gennady Rozhdestvensky
• Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
• Audio CD (September 7, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Moscow Studio
• ASIN: B0002T2QBK
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,470 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: I. Allegretto. Allegro non troppo

2. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro

3. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: III. Lento

4. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: IV. Allegro molto

5. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Allegretto

6. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Piu mosso. Allegro

7. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Andante

8. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Allegro. Allegro molto

9. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Andante. Largo

10. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20: Finale. V Pervoye Pervoye Maya

Editorial Reviews

Shostakovich wrote his First Symphony as a graduation exercise at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Its premiere in 1926 under Nikolai Malko was a popular and critical success and it is still regarded as one of the most mature "first symphonies" ever composed.

The Symphony No. 3 is one of Shostakovich’s works with an overtly political program. The choral finale is on a text by Semyon Kirsanov relating the May Day story, with lines like "Every May Day is a step towards Socialism!"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly, the Third is the star of the show, January 24, 2008

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphonies 1 & 3 (Audio CD)

The review below repeats an earlier review for the same CD on another lael:

Melodiya, the state record company of the USSR, licensed its recordings on many different Western labels, along with its own exports. I know little about Moscow Studio except that its sound is good on Rozhdestvensky's Shostakovich recordings. It's worth finding the best-sounding version of this pairing of Sym. 1 and 3 that you can find. Taken from Rozhdestvensky's complete Shostakovich symphony cycle in the 80s, the sonics are exceptional considering the source: clear, vivid, and detailed. There's a bit of digital glare in loud climzes, but it isn't distrubing.

After an accomplished account of Sym. #1 that is fairly laid back at times but punchy in the climaxes, we get to the real star of the CD, the neglected Third Sym. Long a step-child compared to the most popular symphonies, the Third is made up of disjointed episodes that read like a catalog of Shostakovich's many idioms -- ballet, film score, socialist realism, brash modernism, etc. There are no famous or catchy themes, and most of the episodes last only a few minutes before a new one, often in a totally contrasting mode, appears. The people's chorus tacked on as a grandiose finale has offended Western critics with its hackneyed Soviet text.

Even so, Rozhdestvensky plays each episode for its own expressive worth, and therefore we savor brashness, sentimentality, glitzy romping, fervent patriotism, introverted melancholy -- the works. His Ministry of Culture orchestra from Moscow plays with more roughness and sharper edges than their counterparts in Leningrad, but for this kind of Machine Age avant-gardism, that seems perfect -- yoou feel closer to the premiere, before Shostakovich turned from suspicious bad boy to revered master. There are plenty of frissons left in the Third, and Rozhdestvensky relishes them all.