Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 5 op. 47 & No. 9 op. 70 [Import, Original recording reissued]

Dmitry Shostakovich (Composer), Yevgeny Mravinsky (Conductor), Leningrad Philharmonic (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Leningrad Philharmonic
• Conductor: Yevgeny Mravinsky
• Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording reissued
• Label: Praga / Le Chant du Monde
• ASIN: B00004YL72
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,116 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sym No.9 in E flat, Op.70: I. Allegro - Czech PO/Zdenek Kosler

2. Sym No.9 in E flat, Op.70: II. Moderato - Czech PO/Zdenek Kosler

3. Sym No.9 in E flat, Op.70: III. Presto - Czech PO/Zdenek Kosler

4. Sym No.9 in E flat, Op.70: IV. Largo - Czech PO/Zdenek Kosler

5. Sym No.9 in E flat, Op.70: V. Allegretto - Allegro - Czech PO/Zdenek Kosler

6. Sym No.5 in d, Op.47: I. Moderato - Leningrad PO/Yevgeny Mravinsky L

7. Sym No.5 in d, Op.47: II. Allegretto - Leningrad PO/Yevgeny Mravinsky

8. Sym No.5 in d, Op.47: III. Largo - Leningrad PO/Yevgeny Mravinsky

9. Sym No.5 in d, Op.47: IV. Allegro Non Troppo - Leningrad PO/Yevgeny Mravinsky

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a badly recorded live 5th, July 5, 2006

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 5 op. 47 & No. 9 op. 70 (Audio CD)

The reason to pick up this disc is the 9th, an excellent recording by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The live 5th, a 1967 recording of Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic, is an inferior recording of an excellent performance. For a much better recording of the same forces with a performance every bit as good, try instead the 1980s recording on Erato (see my review).

Mravinsky and the LPO premiered many of Shostakovich's symphonies, including the 5th, and Mravinsky didn't change his interpretation much over the years, so even via the old Mravinsky of the 1980s you can still hear something very much like the original performances back when he was in his prime.

See my SHOSTAKOVICH: A CENTENARY LISTENER'S GUIDE list for more of the great Dmitri Shostakovich.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Ninth Worthy of Your Shelf-Space, A faux-Prague Fifth, May 30, 2008

By 

J. F. Laurson (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 5 op. 47 & No. 9 op. 70 (Audio CD)

Above (or below) reviewer is correct: It's a badly recorded Fifth. It's kind-of a fake, too -- because the performance was not, as claimed, recorded in the Rudolfinum in Prague in May of 1967 (when Mravinsky actually gave a performance of that work), but a live performance from Vienna from 11 years later. I don't know if the original of that recording has as much distortion, but there's plenty here. It's still Mravinsky, though, and it's still a great performance. And although the sound is unacceptable by all modern standards, I kind of enjoy the distortion - because it adds to the tortured and pained quality of this Symphony which gives it an interpretive hue all of its own.

In any case, the 9th with Zdenek Kosler also on this (no reason to think that's wrongly attributed), is a.) in much better sound and b.) a terrific, joyful, bouyant performance! Controversy aside, a disc worth including in your DSCH collection. (And currently the only way to get the sonically inferior Vienna performance of Mravinsky, anyway.)
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