Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 ~ Temirkanov

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Although he became RCA's house conductor for the Russian orchestral classics, I wonder if the American public realizes how great Temirkanov is. Unless you happened to live in Baltimore during his brief tenure there, or attend his occasional visits with the St. Petersburg orchestra to Carnegie Hall, Temirkanov has little presence here (and his name is harder to remember than Gergiev). This 1996 Shostakovich CD features a very alert, beautifully played Sym. #1. Temirkanov doesn't see the work as youthful high jinks (neither does his chief competitor, Gergiev, whose Kirov Orchestra now outshines the once-illustrious St. Petersburg Phil.). He plays it rather seriously but with lots of detail, aided by BMG's very clear, natural recording, which is blissfully free of shrillness in the upper range.

The Sym. #6 performance is far from a 'botch,' as the Amazon reviewer claims, but I expected more than Temirkanov delivers. The opening Largo is one of Shostakovich's great slow movements, but it depends on repeating the same two themes, and to be fully successful, the conductor must build one long span of emotion that rises to tragic utterance. Temirkanov, besides being a bit fast, doesn't dig into the music's intensity enough. The only reading that has ever overwhelmed me was in the LP era, when Mravinsky and the same orchestra released a Melodiya recording on Angel. I don't think that version has eve resurfaced, unfortunately. The last two movements are done very well by both Temirkanov and hsi musicians, though he doesn't evoke the manic thrills of Mravinsky in the Scherzo.

In all, the reviewer who calls this CD 'just above average' hits the nail on the head, but we're talking about the average set by a great conductor. I thinnk I'll try his remake of both symphonies, just released on Warner classics.

I bought this CD from ... because it was the only CD they had in their local store that featured the Festive Overture, a truly great piece. I don't have anything bad to say about the overture itself--the music is great and they play it well. I just sense that something is lacking. It's not quite robust enough for my tastes. The symphonies, while lacklaster, do have a couple worthwhile nuggets, such as the finale from the 6th. This is not a bad CD by any means, but I would suggest to search for another.