Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the third recording Mstislav Rostropovich has made of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, and of the three it is the most beautiful. The LSO's musicians are superb, and Rostropovich, who knew Shostakovich and knows what the symphony is about, leads them in one of the best performances available. Why then only 4 stars? The problem is, Rostropovich is competing against himself. His first recording with his National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C. in 1983 is the most powerful performance of the many I have heard. It is not beautiful, but given the nature and subject of the work, beautiful is not the most important attribute -- what it has is relentless momentum and streamlined power. It is the most complete realization of Rostropovich's vision of the 5th. Unfortunately that DG disc is out of print.

Of the currently available recordings, this one, live in July 2004, takes its place as one of the finest, along with Mravinsky, Haitink and Gergiev (see my reviews). If you have not heard the 5th, or if you are collecting superior versions, do not hesitate! So far, Rostropovich and the LSO have brought forth great Shostakovich in the LSO Live series -- their 11th Symphony is one of the finest ever (see my review). In July we have their latest, the 8th Symphony, to look forward to!

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

This recording impeccably expresses all of effects and affects in this work: joy, wit, fear, sadness, sarchasm, and bitter irony. Many other interpretations seem to treet this piece more as a collection of melodies, but this interpretation expresses the sinister sneering of the lower octaves of the piano in the first movement, and the epic rises and falls between trebble and bass, the infectuous fun of the second movement's dancing up and down the octaves, the brooding of the third movement, the signaling of the fanfare of the typical Beethovenian finale, the changing of tone as this falls to the sneering of the bass, and the sarchasm of the timpani in the final cadential notes of the piece, ending the piece on more of an uneasy question mark than on the forced exclamation point heard in other interpretations.
The tempo is very natural; it never feels rushed, and yet the music keeps flowing steadilly. I have 4 complete recordings of this work: this one conducted by Rostropovich, the one from the Kondrashin set, the one from the Barshai set, and the one by Bernstein that seems to get the best reviews. I am also an audiophile and have a decent system, decent enough to be dissapointed int the recording quality of many of my classical recordings - in particular, many digital recordings tend to sound irritatingly dry and glassy. This recording is among the absolute best I have in terms of sound quality; sound quality really doesn't get much better than this, it's lucious. Unless there is something faily specific you're looking for in a recording of this work, you will not be dissapointed.

Acclaimed cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a vibrant performance that should be regarded as distinguished for the conductor's emphasis of the score's rich architecture, via somewhat slower tempi than similar recordings I have heard from the likes of Leonard Bernstein and Bernard Haitink. Still, Rostropovich manages to capture the spacious, almost Mahlerian, quality of the symphony's first movement. The symphony's second movement sounds like some crazy dance mixed with drunken waltz and march rhythms, with less than a brisk Allegretto tempo than I have heard elsewhere, but under Rostropovich's superb conducting, it still sounds quite credible. For me, the most viscerally moving movement is the symphony's third movement, a Largo which is emphasized via Rostropovich's slow tempi, accentuating the score's pathos and despair. The symphony's fourth movement is a dazzling rush of sound, with an ending that sounds most reminiscent of the final notes of Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra. Composed in 1937, Shostakovich's 5th Symphony was his understated tribute to fellow Soviet citizens ensnared by the deadly bureaucracy of Stalin's dictatorship. Needless to say, Rostropovich has led the London Symphony Orchestra in a quite moving, dramatic performance of this symphony that has been recorded well by the LSO Live sound engineers. Indeed, without question, this splendid performance is Rostropovich's dignified musical tribute to his late friend and mentor, Dmitri Shostakovich.

I don't know the background of this symphony or really anything much about Shostakovich himself. All I know is that I found this CD lying around my cousin's room and plopped it in my computer and it's now in my top 5 favorite symphonies of all time. I've listened to it at least five times and it never gets old. Each movement has a distinct feel, yet the whole thing feels like one complete narrative. By the end I always feel like I've accomplished something even though all I did was listen to a CD. The third movement is my favorite Largo from any symphony ever: the breathtaking flute, the passionate oboe, the gut-wrenching clarinet duets... and I'm pretty sure I heard part of this movement in Patriot Games (don't know why that's important...)

Anyways, buy, borrow, steal or torrent this CD because no matter your musical background, whether you're a Shostakovich lover or just think "That sounds Russian" when you hear his name, this music will profoundly affect you (unless of course you're deaf, in which case I have no idea why you'd be reading a review of a CD).

The Karajan recording of Shostakovich's 10th, as well as the Bernstein recording of his 9th, are fantastic as well, though they aren't quite on the emotional level of this performance by Rostropovich and the LSO. And the Fitwilliam String Quartet's run of his SQs is pretty amazing as well. Oh and of all the recordings of his 1st Violin Concerto that I've heard, the Solerno-Sonnenberg/Maxim Shostakovich+LSO recording is the best, and it also comes with Barber's VC as a free bonus!

Well that's my two cents or whatever the dumb phrase is.

I heard it live in London with same conductor. Unforgettable. A fine recording.

Dimitri Shostakovich's 5th symphony packs tremendous emotional punch. This has made it one of the most popular classical selections for over 50 years. But perhaps many listeners, stunned by the sheer power of the music, haven't taken the extra step to understand what Shostakovich meant to convey. Or conductors like Bernstein fail to help the listener - the intense and delicate Largo third movement becomes existentialist soup, or the fourth Allegro comes across as Russian patriotism, climaxing with triumphant bombast. Both approaches miss the profoundly personal context of the symphony.

Listening to this interpretation, it becomes clear that Shostakovich wrote for every person living and struggling to survive in his sad country. It expresses the tragedy of life in the Soviet Union during the Great Terror of the 1930's, and leading up to WWII. This music is not generalized, existential angst - it is the raw pain and fear in the life of the average Russian at the time, salvaged only in the end by the need to prepare for war to save the Motherland.

History is lucky that Shostakovich had the talent to tell this story, so magnificently, using code that would take years to decipher. His genius with the 5th was to write music that, heard on a superficial level, could be interpreted by Soviet authorities as showing solidarity with Soviet victims of Nazi aggression, which was absolutely necessary for Shostakovich to continue composing and simply to avoid arrest and imprisonment. There are several passages that can be played melodramatically, but beneath the melodrama, as performed by Rostropovich, a far different story emerges.

In fact, the 5th Symphony may be as programmatic as Beethoven's 6th. The program follows this rough sequence, by movement number: 1) shock, turmoil and confusion; 2) joining the charade of daily life; 3) contemplation in solitude, culminating in despair; and 4) finally a gritty, hapless resolve. In the first, Moderato movement, the opening, groaning chords of strings and horns could be the sadness and indignation felt witnessing results of a German attack. But its modernistic texture and violent chord changes sound much more personal than picturesque. The music portrays a subject experiencing internal turmoil, a life of watching others disappear, undergoing show trials, or shipping to Siberia, and most importantly, needing to restrain your instincts to avoid the same fate. The second Allegretto movement sounds like a "charade," in the subject' daily life feels the pull of safety in cooperation; thus the circus-like sounds which resonate like the mask one must wear to avoid suspicion. The propaganda does have a sweet attraction, after all. Perhaps the Soviet masters interpreted this as simple light-heartedness to relieve the tension.

But Lord, what a collapse we hear in the third, the Largo. Here, the subject approaches personal break-down. It dawns slowly as one might contemplate recent events, with a heavy heart, feeling powerless. A flute represents the subject's melancholy, a personal voice, in psychological terms the ego. Low notes from the bassoon possibly suggest the loving support of a family. A few minutes into the movement, there come vaguely hopeful sounds for some possible way to find happiness. It stirs and grows with trembling strings, a fantastic crescendo of conflicting thoughts and emotions. But then this new hope ebbs, as reality returns to sink these new dreams. A thorough feeling of isolation and bleakness descends, somehow pacified with major chords at the end, perhaps an acceptance for the time being, a fragile accommodation with life as it is now understood. (In his 8th symphony, written in the late 40's, Shostakovich is much less optimistic. Listen to the last movement to hear a heartrending expression of the soul itself, dying.)

Then comes the incredible and complex 4th movement, the Allegro, the one that has most confused listeners and been misinterpreted by conductors who miss - or avoid - Shostakovich's political perspective. It starts with excitement, thrilling notes that seem to signify a new resolve. This must be the triumphant spirit of Soviet communism, note the authorities. Their line of thinking is not to be deterred by the sadness that returns towards the end, for at the end the music again becomes resolute, with a character that seems to challenge all of the Soviets' foes. Who could deny this; it has one of the greatest climaxes in symphonic history!

But Rostropovich belies this interpretation. Yes, there is tremendous spirit in the opening lines, but given what we have already heard, it is a fight for daily survival, hardened by surviving the black of the night of the soul in the Largo. Wear that mask, but wear it with sheer dogged determination, there is little remaining love for life. Perhaps there is some patriotic feeling...not everything is worthless. But why the renewed melancholy, near the end? It must reflect a weakening of resolve, as strength gives out and contemplation returns. We hear the flute motif from the Largo; the subject wonders how long he can continue. But again we hear some of the resolve returning, using an ascending, martial motif heard at the introduction. Only this time, it returns very slowly. Bychkov's slow pace is crucial to understanding the climax, since it has a more begrudging tone to it. According to Shostakovich's memoir Testimony, it has the forced rejoicing of someone beaten and told to rejoice. It is also accompanied by the drums of the approaching European war. This time, something more important may truly be at stake, the survival of the land itself. Only here, when one can forget past sorrows and terrors and unite against a common enemy, is real determination possible. Only now can the individual stand up straight with the millions of others, and say, we are ready, we will fight, and we will win. Only then will there be hope for a better time, tomorrow.

I don't mind if the Amazon reviewer goes wild for this limp, wayward reading of the Shostakovich Fifth, but did he even lsiten to it? Far from being grim and intense, Rostropovich's approach is tame. The opening movement loses tension after six bars and never regains it. As for the "fully matured interpretation," this beloved musician never rose to the heights of conducting. Familiar as the Fifth may be, it's tough to knit it together into an emotional whole, and Rostropovich stumbles in the wake of Bernstein, Mravinsky, Gergiev, and Temirkanov.

In the Scherzo I don't hear a hint of savage irony -- the woodwinds positively chirp. The heart of the symphony is the hushed, inward Largo, where Rostropovich is sensitive and restrained. What he lacks is depth of feeling, something he easily achieved on the cello but not the podium. Controlling extended slow movements is very difficult. As for the much vexed Finale, the tempo starts slow but quickly gets up to speed; the triumphal peroration is broad to the point of ponderousness.

I heard Rostropovich in nearly his last American appearance, conducting the Shostakovich Violin Cto #1 with an inspsired Maxim Vengerov. He was larger than life, leading the NY Phil. with real passion that night, but not here with the LSO, I'm afraid.

The reviews here are of another, also excellent, recording, not of the recording by Yuri Ahronovitch and the Stockholm Philharmonic.

The Ahronovitch recording, which I own, is very, very good indeed. The very competent musicologist (and sometimes Amazon reviewer) David Hurwitz thinks very highly of it: he included it in his book on Shostakovitch, and it well deserves the five stars I have given it.

Added in January, 2010: I see that two readers found this warning - that all these rave reviews were for a completely different recording - "unhelpful"!!

No qualms on the performance. My deep reservations pertain these awful LSO live recordings; horribly dry this time, no bloom, no perspective, everything flat. Kills the performance. Shostakovich symphonies need much better, and at any price.