Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 in C minor,Op.43

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
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There seems to be little doubt that profoundly troubling influences were exerted on Shostakovich's emotions around the time he was in the process of creating this symphony, the first of his more mature large masterworks. He felt compelled, though with reluctance, to suppress this work in 1936. It did not surface for its premiere until late December, 1961. Once performed in concert, it generated all sorts of speculation. Only five years prior, the composer himself had issued some reservations about it. But I have no intention of probing further here the political and ideological aspects of the accompanying story. The main focus is this big, outspoken, abstruse and bewitching opus, and when one has the good fortune of hearing as dedicated, perceptive and exciting a performance as that served up here by Neeme Jarvi and the Scottish National Orchestra, the entire experience becomes special. This is not the first time I have encountered the "give it all it's worth " effort from this team of musical forces. (See my review of their recording of the Shostakovich Tenth.) With Jarvi at the helm, you'd better be prepared to hold tight and not let go. It should also be said that the Chandos sound engineers do a beautiful job of assisting in clearly bringing to light every aspect of this spellbinding journey. For one thing, you will be impressed with the urgency and sometimes explosive power the conductor and orchestra bring to the first movement. One can easily pick up on the influence of Mahler. Here and there, it seems as if Shostakovich is employing that composer's cloak to issue mocking musical commentary. The second movement carries Mahler's influence even further, once more intertwining it with the sometimes ominous, unpredictable elements of Shostakovich's own living environment. In the third and final movement, Jarvi deftly communicates some of the symphony's more pungent and powerful aspects, while managing to retain an air of dangerous anticipation. His complete portrayal is terribly convincing. Whether you are unfamiliar with or curious about this symphony or you have heard other interpretations of it, you owe it to yourself to listen to Jarvi and the Scottish National Orchestra. Regardless of the direction you are coming from, you should find yourself strongly impressed.

Jarvi's reading is glaring and hard-edged, bringing out the mechanistic side of this enigmatic work. He makes it sound like a raw industrial symphony, which is an exciting approach. His Scottish orchestra is a bit thin, and the recorded sound has some glare, so one can't expect the refined, sophisticated sound that is available from Haitink, Chung, and Gergiev--I prefer all those recordings over this one. But the Fourth is the hardest of Shostakovich's symphonies to carry off, and Jarivi's rawer approach is convincing.

This is it. No other reading comes near to that of Mr.Jarvi's I have had this for a couple of years and was also fortunate to hear it live in London at the Albert Hall by the the Mevrinsky orchestra under Gergiev. This was dissapointing. The Jarvi reading is spectacular,incidently all Jarvi'CDs have that special sound. I dont know what it is.after leaving Scotland Jarvi in the late 90's. Jarvi is now based USA- but I have not heard the kind of sound he genertsted wirh the SNO in the US.
Try also ( Chandos with the SNO)- the complete set of Prokoffiov symphonies

Neeme Järvi's RSNO account on Chandos is with no doubt the most powerful, implacable, shocking and devastating recorded performance ever done. Järvi's wonderful approach is typical of the trenchant, uncompromising `Shostakovich
sound' that we only find in great Shostakovich conductors as he is.

The 4th is an enigmatic work, but it's also the one where Shostakovich
finally hits his symphonic stride and the one where the composer wrote all what
he really wanted to. We wouldn't see such levels of authenticity and sincerity
until his last three symphonies (13th, 14th and 15th). Structurally it's quite
a challenge, with two potentially unwieldy half-hour movements dwarfing a short
intermezzo.

The moving tension and turmoil that lurk behind the notes is a benchmark in
this Järvi's performance, aided and abetted by a typically wide-ranging Chandos recording that copes easily with the symphony's sudden mood-swings. Järvi
wonderfully strikes the best balance between structure and content here and
has the best way to shape the central movement in an authentic mahlerian mood.

The finale is, in hands of Järvi, the best expression of the darkest night
of the soul. As in Mahler's 6th final movement, it's the most beautiful and
shocking way to express a desperation scream. The estonian maestro judges
masterly tempi and balances and articulates perfectly the different passages
and moods of the movement. The final notes arrive as a pain reliever and leave
us deliciously devastated. This is with no doubt one of the greatest Shosta's
recordings ever done and, the clear choice for the 4th symphony, and a real essential for every collection of this composer.

It's a little ironic for me that, of all of Shostakovich's symphonies, this remains for me the most enigmatic, appealing, and electrifying. It was, after all, shelved soon after being written and had wait until the 1960s for a public performance. Perhaps it might have spelled the end of the composer, coming as it did at the time of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and the "impact" that work had on Shostakovich's life. I'm left wondering how the composer might have developed had he been able to pursue the creative path indicated by this work, assuming it would have been divergent from the path he did pursue in subsequent works (the Fifth, for example). We'll never know but we can at least enjoy a remarkable work, beginning with its breathtaking roller coaster ride of a first movement.

Having just returned from a difinitive performance of the resplendent Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 ( Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen as part of the ongoing Shostakovich Cycle)I began searching for a recording that captures the glory of this not so well known symphony. Yes, there is a big difference between a live concert in a hall with warm sonic ambience and a recording, and probably the only CD tht begins to approach the glories of this work are on a recording of Shostakovich/Britten with Andre Previn conducting the Chicago and London orchestras. But to simply focus on the one symphony in a recording that is respectable, then this CD with Neeme Jarvi conducting the Scottish National Orchestra is probably as sound as they come. The obvious contender is Simon Rattle's recording with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, but the engineering balances blur all the inner voices and the overall architecture is not fully realized. One would hope that Salonen and the LA Phil will commit that splendidly intuitive performance to recording, but until that time then Neeme Jarvi's reading will suffice.

There are so many breathtaking moments in each of the three movements of this symphony that attaching word descriptions to them seems futile. Just brace yourself for some of the most imaginative scoring, combinations of instruments, sparing of dance forms with the vitriol of underlying fear and sadness, and an ending that has all the tender resignation and pathos of the composer's String Quartet #15: after using every instrument created Shostakovich allows the symphony to fade into nothingness with a soft celeste solo agains pitzing harps and tam tam effects in the strings. This is a magnificent work - one well worth the multiple listenings that are required to get into it. Jarvi may now have more sensitivity, but until another recording comes along this one will suffice.