Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11: The Year 1905 [Import]

Shostakovich (Composer), Rostropovich (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Rostropovich
• Composer: Shostakovich
• Audio CD (September 10, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Lso Live UK
• ASIN: B00006C2D8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,488 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In short order, my favorite performance of this work., September 19, 2002

By 

Bob Zeidler (Charlton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11: The Year 1905 (Audio CD)

I first experienced this work many years ago, when Capitol Records (now part of EMI) released an LP set by Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony Orchestra (still a favorite of mine, and presently available in well-mastered CD form from EMI). In subsequent years, I added performances by Bernard Haitink, Rudolf Barshai, and Rostropovich himself, when he had been the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. But it took only one hearing of this new "LSO Live" performance, with Rostropovich conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, for it to go to the top of this rather small pile of Shostakovich 11th Symphony recordings.

Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is a rather long, and very brooding, work. Ostensibly written to commemorate the 1905 Russian Revolution, its date of writing also suggests that it might contain one of his frequent "hidden messages," this one as a personal response to the Hungarian uprising and subsequent Soviet invasion of 1956. But perhaps it's best to ignore this highly-specific subtext, and simply accept the work as a more universal "commemoration to the victims of oppression everywhere."

Some Shostakovich symphonies (certainly the 1st, 5th, 8th and 10th, and perhaps the 6th and 9th) are heard in the concert hall much more frequently than this work, or for that matter, his other "war" symphony, the 7th ("Leningrad") Symphony. It follows - largely, anyway - that this work is not nearly as frequently recorded.

But, unless you are one who needs multiple versions of everything, this Rostropovich/LSO recording is likely to be the only one you'll ever need. Recorded live, it is, in a word, stunning. In fact, given its dynamic range - with much of the opening "Palace Square" Adagio performed barely above the level of a whisper - one has a hard time believing that it is in fact a live recording. Applause at the end (and surely it must have been overwhelming) has been edited out, and there is not even the smallest hint of audience noise; not a cough, not a candy-wrapper crinkling, absolutely nothing! I'm in awe just of the audience!

Rostropovich, one of Shostakovich's closest friends, understands this work (as well as the Russian themes that Shostakovich "encoded" into it) as well as anyone alive, if not better. Now, at age 75 (and several years after his National Symphony Orchestra recording), he seems to be "just hitting his stride."

The tension throughout is palpable. In the opening Adagio, and again in the 3rd movement Adagio, Rostropovich achieves the near-impossible in terms of creation of brooding intensity; the opening Adagio is nearly 4 minutes longer than those on my other versions without the slightest loss of tension. And at those points in the work where the tension does break and the full orchestral forces are "left off the leash," the LSO responds like the virtuoso orchestra it is.

Truly a performance not soon forgotten. And at the very nice "LSO Live" mid-price common to this series.

Bob Zeidler

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshing Look at Shostakovich, October 2, 2002

By 

D. A Wend (Arlington Heights, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11: The Year 1905 (Audio CD)

This recording of Dimitri Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is a bit unusual: Mstislav Rostropovich adopted a much slower tempo in all of the movements. In fact, his recording is 16 minutes longer than the premiere recording by Mravinsky (Russian Revelation). The result is that the descriptive music, almost cinematic, is given a broader sweep. The brooding quality of the first movement is intensified and the violent confrontation of Bloody Sunday in the second movement seems all the more violent. (Gennady Rozhdestvensky has recorded the 11th with a second movement a minute longer than this recording). Rostropovich was quoted as applying the music of this symphony to the terrorist attacks of September 11, so this performance is more of an event. The slower tempos do make this symphony seem like one of the war symphonies (the 8th in particular) and more inspired than the faster tempos, say of Kondrashin (who recorded the 11th at a time of 54 minutes).

Although this recording with the London Symphony was a live performance there is no background noise and no applause at the end of the symphony, only the reverberation of the bells as the sound fades. This is a must have recording for Shostakovich lovers.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High emotional involvement, December 26, 2005

By 

Larry VanDeSande - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11: The Year 1905 (Audio CD)

Shostakovich's 11th Symphony is more programmatic than most of his work in the symphonic canon and approaches his Symphony 7 "Leningrad" in spirit and word. Both are long and overstated symphonies about Russian history replete with ceremonial bombast and regular thematic repitition.

This symphony is billed as Shostakovich's take on the 1905 Russian pre-revolution although many analysts argue it is instead modeled after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1953. In either case it paints a portrait of people and events with discontent bubbling not far below the surface then boiling over into a cauldron of mania.

Like in his integral set of Shostakovich symphonies, Rostropovich's response to this music is highly emotional and broadly paced. He takes more than 72 minutes to get through the score compared to conductors that traverse the music in closer to an hour. In his still famous performance in Houston, Stokowksi's total time was about 10 minutes shy of Rostropovich's concert recording for the LSO Live label.

I would characterize Rostropovich's approach to this music as nearly silent brooding punctuated by terror. This is most obvious in the way he presents the two quieter movements (1 and 3) and follows them with the more boisterous movements (2 and 4). The contrast between the quiet brooding of the opening section, which is said to represent people gathering at the palace, and the savage militaristic rhythms of the timpani- and brass-driven mania of the second movement (where the palace guard opens fire on the crowd) is exemplary of his approach.

Comapred to conductors who direct this score as concert music, Rostropovich's approach is more personal and far more Russian. His invovlement with the music is complete, his intensity is unrelenting, and his emtional conviction is 100 percent throughout. Whether this leads to a better outcome is questionable for the music is full of pathos without anything additional provided in the direction. I liken his approach to Leonard Bernstein conducting the Mahler symphonies.

The recording, taken from a pair of concerts in the Barbican in March 2002, is exceptionally truthful especially the rhythmic timpani and brass attacks in the second movement. The London Symphony Orchestra does not have the requesite power in the low brass and the wavering French tone in high brass to sound like a Russian band. Still it reflects the conductor's approach and is with him all the way emotionally.

I'd say this recording is most desirable for listeners that like their Shostakovich a bit overdone especially in the rhetorical sections where Rostropovich never fails to lay on the tonic with thick proportion.