Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Herbert von Karajan made precious few recordings of the music of the Russian contemporary Dmitri Shostakovich. I only know of two recordings he made of symphonies by Shostakovich, both made with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, both for DG, and both of the same 10th symphony.

The tenth is considered by musicologists to be the most conventional, or perhaps traditional, of the 15 symphonies Shostakovich composed. The tenth is certainly the most approachable for western audiences. The 5th symphony remains the most popular.

This recording was made in 1967, a period when the Berlin Philharmonic had been under Karajan's supervision for a decade, and was by then fully staffed with musicians of his own choosing. Many consider the period from about 1962 to 1972 to be the "heyday" of the Karajan/BPO collaboration. The performance in this recording gives considerable evidence to that opinion. The orchestra plays with fabulous energy and verve, while following the director's cues precisely. Karajan's direction brings out the wide range of moods Shostakovich is known for, such as somber resignation to an unfortunate fate, joyous but reserved exhaltation, or light and almost frivolous contentment. The diverse moods make the symphony a very difficult proposition for conductors, and Karajan proves himself a master with his handling of them all.

Karajan made another recording of the 10th in the 1980s in digital sound. The orchestra is still top notch, if only a slight bit less perfect than this performance. Karajan's reading in that recording is very similar. But, the recorded sound suffers from the defects of digital sound in its infancy. And the accoustic is much more confined and one-dimensional in comparison to this recording.

All Shostakovich fans should own this CD.

And for those not as inclined to the Soviet master's more adventuresome works, or those who find his music a little offensive or brash, this should please you very much.

Don't hesitate. Get it while you can.

I only wish DG had chosen this for one of their great remasterings in the "Originals" series. While I am pleased that they restored the great Ancerl recording of the 10th in that series (Amazon asin # B000060O5E, a special import not generally available in the USA), I would have much preferred they give this great recording the full treatment it deserves.

Maybe SACD will find take DG back to this classic . Lets hope so.

Sadly, DG released a "The Originals" series remastering of Karajan's less-superior (though still quite fine) 1980s digital remake of teh 10th in February 2006.

To appreciate the superiority of Karajan's late '60s Shostakovich Tenth to his digital remake of 15 years later, play the second movement on both recordings. The 1967 performance is dizzying, its (alleged) portrait of Stalin suggesting a machine that has gone dangerously out of control. The 1982 remake, only about a second slower, is far more tame, far less urgent. That's pretty much how it goes throughout: the digital remake is simply too smooth (although it has its admirers).

Even aside from comparisons between Karajan I and II, what we have here is the unlikely achieved: a conducting superstar known for prizing beauty of sound (sometimes to the detriment of the music) delivers a nearly definitive rendition of a mid-20th century symphony whose pages are imbued with bitterness, melancholy, and sardonic wit. The BPO here sounds like a (slightly more refined) Russian orchestra on overdrive. Perhaps the third movement could be a shade more grotesque and "ironic," but on the other hand the solo horn fanfare (based on the opening horn call of Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde") sounds as chill and desolate as dawn on a winter morning in Moscow. Too bad, though, that DG still hasn't gotten around to remastering the slightly congested and harsh-sounding CD, perhaps for inclusion in its "Originals" series.

The 10th symphony is probably my favourite piece of Shostakovich. It is not unique - far from it - among his works in possessing power, anguished emotion and nobility of expression, but it has a coherence and unity of style that I don't always find in him. The construction is less episodic and more `durchkomponiert' than he often is, and the long first movement in particular rises to great heights through its sustained symphonic logic, of the kind I associate more with Beethoven and Brahms. As often, the influence of Mahler can be felt strongly, this time in the third movement; and the ostensibly `positive' conclusion is no triumph at all but a piece of noble and bitter irony. Stalin was not long dead when this symphony received its first performance, and I expect his monstrous incubus still lay over Soviet art of every kind during the period of its composition. Whether this led the composer to trim his artistic sails I don't know, nor do I really much care. The musical idiom is not especially radical, but I can well imagine that Shostakovich might have had some explaining to do to the cultural commissars when they heard that fierce and outraged second movement. I can rarely hear Shostakovich as `absolute' music - it is nearly always telling us something - but in the great first movement of this symphony his inspiration transcends his circumstances, much as Beethoven's did when he composed the Emperor concerto with pillows over his ears to protect the remnants of his hearing while his fallen idol Napoleon bombarded Vienna.

The performance strikes me as flawless. I am not in general an enthusiast for Karajan, and even here I don't catch the special individuality that made Toscanini, Beecham and Furtwaengler who and what they were as interpreters. Nevertheless if I had heard this performance without knowing who the conductor was I could only have been struck forcibly by the power, commitment and discipline of the reading. I gather there is a later account by the same conductor and orchestra, costing more but allegedly better recorded. I have no complaints about the recorded quality of this one, and given the nature of the music that is not the consideration uppermost in my mind anyhow.

I own both this 1966 analog recording and Karajan's early digital remake from 1982. I don't hear that much wrong with the digital sound (except for the inevitable edginess in the violins at forte and above)--it has more body, fullness, and naturalness than the earlier recording. The two interpretations aren't that different to my ears. Karajan in general was a conductor who crafted an interpretation and then kept to it for a long period of time, often decades.

Nor is either reading definitive. We have two recordings from Mravinsky (on Erato and Melodiya/BMG) that are much more authentically Russian, not to mention that Mravinsky was extremely close to the composer personally. But Karajan has the greater orchestra and better recorded sound by far. He treats the Shostakovich Tenth as a powerhouse that even the fine reading from Haitink can't match; both conductors leave Jansons, Rostropovich, Flors, and Solti far behind, although there is much to be said for the fiery, live 1966 Stokowski performance that is included in a 12-CD box set from the Chicago Symphony.

Karajan is least convincing in the two final movements, which typically for Shostakovich show a strong disjoin from the first half of the symphony and raise stylistic problems for both listener and conductor. Frankly, it's hard to keep them from being a letdown after the stirring emotions and huge scale of the first two movements.

If I only owned one recording of the Shostakovich Tenth, it would be the digital Karajan, and I would ontinue to wonder why, in light of its greatness, Karajan never recorded another single note of this composer's music.

Shostakovich's symphonic masterpiece is here played with feeling and verve from HVK and the BPO. From the composer who said that "all my symphonies are tombstones" here is an at once hearfelt sorrow and tragedy (the vast, desolate 1st movement), the famous schezo which depicts Stalin himself, and the finale in which DS uses his own monogram (DSCH from the first 4 letters of the German translation) to craft a finale which will push any orchestra to it's very edge. Karajan and the BPO have never played with more virtuosity than in the last 5-6 mins of this piece. With perhaps only the Mravinsky (mono alas) version comparable, this stunning recording belongs in evey collection.

I'm surprised DG hasn't remastered this and reissued it as part of their "Originals" series. It's a very fine performance of the DSCH 10th symphony, the only DSCH symphony Karajan ever recorded, the only one he said he could identify with. I'm not quite as wild about it as I used to be, having been exposed to some sleeper performances such as Kurt Sanderling, who really makes sense of the otherwise "brain-dead" finale. Karajan is impressive in his power and force, but there is also a relentlessness of tempo that makes this a bit of a one-dimensional performance in places--he doesn't let the symphony breathe as much as he might, the moments of introspection are not as powerful as they should be. Still, there are many great moments--the haunting clarinet opening (often this passage makes or breaks an entire Shostakovich 10th for me; Previn's is too sunny, for example) and especially the chilling piccolo-flute duet in the same moment's coda. For all the banging of the timpani and the blaring of the brass, the most memorable moments in this work involve the winds. The second movement is a thrilling ride, but believe it or not, Haitink (Haitink!) provides the most amazing Scherzo in his studio recording on Decca. (Haitink!! Sometimes I even think it's too fast.) Still, Karajan has the most impressive Dies Irae you'll ever hear. But where he falls a bit short is in the following two movements: the grotesque irony of the slow movement is absent (grotesque irony was never a Karajan strength; he's a straight=forward kind of guy) and most critically, the last movement doesn't make sense, again because it's devoid of irony, again because Karajan is too literal. It's very hard to explain, but, similar to the 5th, you have to approach this music playing it earnestly, while sounding like you don't really believe it. Otherwise the movement's dark hesitant intro doesn't make sense and the frivolity that follows seems like too "easy" a solution for a great musical (and political) thinker like Shostakovich. ("Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.")

Despite what sounds like a bit of a drubbing, this is actually a very good performance, especially the first two movements, which will make your hair stand up as few others will. But to hear the full depths of the symphony, you have to check out some other interpretations, particularly Kurt Sanderling. Unfortunately, he is hampered by an orchestra that is not top-drawer, and the great moments of power--so well-performed in this recording--are underplayed on that disc. So get 'em both. And be sure to check out Haitink, Janssons, Mravinsky, Karajan II (digital), Haitink live (part of a 14-disc boxed set), and Maxim Shostakovich. And probably a half dozens others I'm forgetting right now. This piece has been well-served on disc.

I always find it puzzling. By 1967, when this recording was made, Karajan's performances of core repertoire such as Beethoven or Brahms had already started to exhibit a dangerously single-minded focus on beauty of tone. Given slightly more modern and less familiar repertoire - Shostakovich's tenth (back in 1967), Prokofiev symphonies or Honegger - the music-making is peerless in its boldness, sweep and momentum, however. There is thus preciously few performances out there of Shostakovich's tenth to really challenge this one even though I am hesitant to call any single account definite (besides, I haven't heard Karajan's digital remake). It is a relatively spacious reading (but still faster than several versions), but wonderfully shaped and superbly paced, relentlessly urgent and always deeply felt. The end result isn't only more exciting than any other account I've heard, it is also more moving. I am not quite sure exactly where the power of this reading comes from - of course the full-bodied tone, technical wizardry and mastery of color of the Berlin Philharmonic doesn't hurt, but more than that I suppose it is Karajan's grip on the structure of the work, especially, perhaps, the first movement which sounds purposeful and driven in a manner I haven't quite heard before. Even so I think it is really in the third that he really steps ahead of his competitors; in Karajan and the Berlin players' hands, this movement - which often sounds a little sprawling - is iron-fist taut and smolderingly powerful from start to end, but at the same time really touching, especially in the poignant final bars. The sound quality is well-balanced and warm as well. In sum I think this is an unsurpassed recording of the work - maybe not the only one to have, but mandatory nonetheless.