Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphonies 7 & 11

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I was aware of the praise given to these Shostakovich recordings under Berglund, but then I read a comparative review online of the Shostakovich Eleventh. It compared eleven different versions, and tis one form Bournemouth came out on top. So I went back to listen again, my first impression having been of competent, serious, well-drilled readings that can't compete in the first rank. After all, we have the likes of Mravinsky and Kondrashin in both Symphonies, Bernstein in the Seventh, not to mention Gergiev, Temirkaanov, Fedoseyev, and Rozhdestvensky among the Russians still before the public.

I listened, and my opinion remains unchanged. Berglund is a senior conductor who can score a palpable hit now and then. He gets past the junkiness that plagues both scores with dignity. Nothing is extreme, yet nothing swept me off my feet, either. This is British Shostakovich, but even in that category Mark Wigglesworth, a real notable among youngish English conductors, has done more spectacular work, especially in the Seventh, and Bis's sonics are world class.

These are two performances, one very good and one great, of Shostakovich's Seventh and Eleventh Symphonies, two works that usually aren't considered the composer's finest symphonic utterances. Most people consider these works to be shallow and bombastic works, and certainly not the equal of, say, his Fifth, Tenth, or Thirteenth Symphonies. But of course, in a good performance, even less-than-great classical works can sound like masterpieces, and conductor Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra certainly succeed in making Shostakovich's Eleventh ("The Year 1905") sound like a much more visionary work than it arguably is. Certainly this is an emotionally powerful performance with a compellingly solemn first movement; fiery and tumultuous second movement (particularly the central "massacre" section); deeply moving third movement; and a fourth movement with a touching middle section that feels like a haunting look back at all that has occurred in previous movements. This is the only performance of the Eleventh I have heard, and even if you are not a fan of Shostakovich's Eleventh, this is still quite a performance to hear. The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra play with passion and power, and Berglund's interpretation is strong and insightful without in any way drawing attention to himself. It has everything to do with the music, and as you listen to it you never get the feeling that Shostakovich is being shortchanged here in favor of histrionics or subjective point-making.

Berglund's reading of Shostakovich's Seventh (the infamous "Leningrad") probably stood out more upon its release in 1974, since at that time the work was commonly thought to be merely a crude political potboiler without much artistic merit. All in all, it is a very good performance---it has an exciting first movement (its "invasion" section marvelously done, with an unwritten but highly effective accelerando throughout the many repetitions of the main theme) and a touching third movement (wonderful flute solo in the introduction of its contrasting theme), as well as a notably ambivalent reading of the finale's final peroration (a very un-triumphant-sounding triumph). But of course, Berglund didn't count on Leonard Bernstein to re-record the piece fourteen years later for DG with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and furthermore direct a performance so overwhelming in its impact that I don't feel that any other performance can truly compare to it. (Certainly the Bournemouth brass cannot compare to the Chicago brass; the former sounds weak by comparison at times.) That two-disc DG performance of the "Leningrad" is the one I would recommend for first-time listeners.

Still, Berglund's Seventh is by no means negligible---for those who know and love the work, it would make a noteworthy alternative to Bernstein's unforgettable account---and his Eleventh is an even better performance. Anyone adventurous enough to purchase this EMI twofer will certainly not feel like they've wasted money.

Many pieces of music composed in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1990 have been "reinterpreted" by Western critics in, perhaps, an attempt to reconcile genius with apparent support for a distasteful regime. One example would be Prokofiev's October Cantata, which is regularly branded ironic despite being a highly unironic, deep, and moving piece, largely because its "Revolution" movement is a magnificent piece of dramatic fun.

Shostakovich was, like Prokofiev, denounced in the 1930's for producing music that was not joyous and populist enough. He went on to produce some music more to the regime's liking, and plenty that wasn't. There's little sign that he held the Soviet authorities in high esteem. Despite this, perhaps because of the obsession with reinterpreting Soviet-era work, there's much scepticism that he was actually critical of the authorities in his music, even when no other explanation seems possible.

The 11th Symphony was written to celebrate the oncoming 40th anniversary of the Glorious 1917 Revolution, and is the story of the earlier 1905 revolution. It comprises of four parts: An atmospheric depiction of the Palace Square where the events took place, a terrifying portrayal of the massacre that happened there (I dare the listener to read a book through the 13th to 15th minute of this CD), a memoriam to the murdered protesters, and a fourth movement that sums up the events emotionally. It's this fourth movement where Shostakovich vents his anger and fury at inhumanity and the evil that men do, not letting the symphony end while there's still more to say.

Given the symphony was composed immediately after the crushing of the Hungarian uprising, it's often assumed that the symphony was meant to tell the story of that event, in place of 1905. This seems unlikely, it wouldn't fit the music. But at the same time, it is hard to believe that anyone would vent such anger and rage at an event that occurred over 50 years previous, before he had even been born, and well after the protagonists were dead and buried. And it's even more puzzling that Shostakovich would compose such a negative piece, given the criticism directed at him, when asked to celebrate the revolution, especially after hearing his rather blander twelfth, which does indeed celebrate 1917. Rather, it seems more believable that, because of Hungary, Shostakovich had something to say about power, and evil, and used the events of 1905 as a device through which to speak.

These particular performances of both the 11th and 7th symphonies are the best I've personally heard. The performance of the 11th especially is played with the contrasts of softness and terror without ever coming across as boringly dramatic. These are two of Shostakovich's greatest symphonies in one affordable package. This CD set is highly recommended.

Hitler expected that when his panzer divisions "kicked in the door" of the Soviet Union on June 22nd, 1941, "the whole rotten house would come tumbling down." The fact was the Nazis looked down on Soviet Russia in almost every way. One sign that they were wrong was the repulse they met with within sight of Moscow in December; the second was the performance and broadcast of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony, a work that made it evident that a country that could produce such great music was more than a sub-human slave state awaiting annihilation.

The 7th, which soon became known as the 'Leningrad Symphony,' because of its connections with the besieged city, announced its strain of defiant optimism in the opening bars of the 1st movement. Shostakovich was deeply effected by the German invasion, living in Leningrad at the time. Evacuated after the city was surrounded, he resumed work on this masterwork in Kuibyshev, finishing the work as the German advance ground to a halt in the Russian snows.

In structure, the 7th reflected the character of the war: extremely quiet interludes suddenly erupting into explosive music with clashing cymbals, insistent rata-tata-tat percussion, throbbing strings and blaring brass all interwoven in complex and skillful patterns, as if Shostakovich were a general of sounds coordinating an aural attack. This is often quite difficult music as the quieter interludes are often too quiet whereas the louder parts are often too noisy, forcing the listener to adjust the volume control. Although, to give credit to Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, this was probably intentional.

After passing through dark, quieter periods, symbolizing death and destruction, emotionally heightened by high-pitched, chime-like sounds, reminiscent of Russian church music, we enter the 4th movement where the optimistic theme is reprised once again in a powerful and moving finale.

The second symphony in this 2 CD package also has strong historical associations. Although written in 1957 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Shostakovich's 11th focused on the 1905 Bloody Sunday massacre in St Petersburg when Cossacks cut down demonstraters.

Peter Avis in the sleeve notes foolishly pays heed to "Testimony," a completely unsubstantiated document that purports to be a memoir by the composer smuggled out of the Soviet Union in 1976. Among other allegations, this work suggests that Shostakovich secretly opposed the Soviet regime and was in fact representing the brutal crushing of the 1956 Budapest rebellion in this music. Anybody listening to the climatic crescendo in the 2nd movement, however, is more likely to be reminded of charging Cossacks than purring tanks.

The 3rd movement, subtitled "Eternal Memory," is somewhat overdone and creates an impression of martyred workers walking hand-in-hand into the dawn of a Socialist utopia. Everything comes together, however, in the masterly 4th Movement where Shostakovich keeps the perfect balance between the 2 key elements of successful music, prediction and surprise.