Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Music from the Film "Hamlet"

5 star:		(4)
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As the other reviewer said, you buy this CD for the symphony - because the suite from "Hamlet" is missing its first movement, and no explanation for this is given in the brief notes accompanying the recording. The suite is mislabeled in the notes, too, as the composer's Op. 116, when Shostakovich gave that number to the complete film score, and the suite is logged as Op. 116a. But let's get back to the main event: Previn and the LSO offer an alternately gutsy and yearning account of the symphony, cutting loose when required in the kind of raucous way that Shostakovich often needs, and the sound quality is outstanding considering its provenance.

I believe this was Previn's first recording with the London Symphony, back in 1965. This period yielded a bumper crop of fine recordings with this team, including Nielsen's First Symphony, Scheherazade, and Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony. This is as fine a Shostakovich Fifth as I have ever heard. The recording was made some years before the composer's revelation of the work's hidden program in "Testimony." Nevertheless, Previn's middle-of-the-road stance toward interpretive issues yields a performance that is highly compelling even in relation to what the composer had to say. And I never have heard any orchestra play better than the Londoners do on this CD. The sound engineering is demonstration class, too. Serebrier's suite from "Hamlet" makes an interesting fill up, with good playing and equally realistic recording. But you buy this disc for the symphony.

Let me admit straight away that I like very few of Shostakovich's symphonies and have never been a great fan of André Previn. So why am I reviewing this? Well, neither gentleman needs care about my approbation; both were quite successful enough without it but for what it's worth I'd like to salve my conscience as a reasonably prolific reviewer who generally avoids them by putting it on record that I think this a really terrific disc.

It's probably as much to do with the quality of the music as the superb performance: too often I find Shostakovich to be unremittingly dour and minor-key miserable but his Fifth Symphony is much grander and melodically more memorable. Previn brings out the grim beauty of this score and the virtuosity of the LSO in 1965 is clear for all to hear: the strings are silky, the woodwind pungent, the horns swagger. Previn doesn't push the tempi too hard but phrases elegantly, bringing out the veiled eroticism of the padding string ostinato in the first movement, letting the suavely demonic character of the Allegretto emerge slyly and gradually, caressing the gorgeous Largo and letting the LSO off the leash for the final Allegro non troppo. I have always liked this symphony so much more than any of Shostakovich's others and this performance has had a lot to do with that.

The colourful "Hamlet" suite is apparently shorn of the opening number without any acknowledgement of that, but what you have is well played. The sound is excellent even if the earlier recording is a little thin.

The first time I ever heard the Shostakovich's 5th was in the original "Rollerball" film with James Caan Rollerball. I bought the Original Soundtrack, which is no longer available, except in used condition. They used excerpts from this and Previn's recording of Shostakovich's 8th Symphony, and I was hooked on modern classical music. I have heard other versions, most notably Bernstein's classic recording with the New York Philharmonic Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9. I would say the difference between the two has nothing to do with better or best, but apples and oranges. The LSO under Previn has a smoother sound, more relaxed tempos for lack of a better word - slicker than some other versions. But more Romantic, like his Vaughan Williams recordings. The slower movements are mesmerizing. The new 24 bit/96khz mastering that RCA did makes these recordings sound like they were recorded yesterday.


This was my first listen to the accompanying Hamlet film music, and though truncated, a nice fill to the album. The Belgian Radio Symphony recording here has a distinctly different acoustic than the Previn recording, but it is still a fine performance. This version of Shostakovich 5th is one of my favorite classical recordings of all time, and I highly recommend. Also check out Previn's version of the 8th on EMI. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8