Customer Reviews

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15; Piano Concerto No. 2, Op102; Gadfly Suite Op97a

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

 

 

This is my favorite performance of the 15th Symphony, surpassing Ormandy, Ashkenazy, and Slovak--all of which are very good and offer alternate perspectives on the work. Jansons's tempos are judicious and he lets the symphony more or less play itself. This is harder that it sounds, since there is so much subtext to the symphony, what with the quotes from Rossini, Wagner, and Shostakovich's own Seventh Symphony. The slow movement is especially haunting, alternatingly terrifying and majestic in its loudest moments. The sound engineering is a little distant, but is well balanced and captures the big moments extremely well. The rest of the disc is very fine, with an especially haunting performance of the music from The Gadfly. For me, this is one of the essential Shostakovich recordings.

Symphony # 15 starts out with a jovial 1st movement, even borrowing the theme from Rossini's "William Tell Overture" for an added touch of humor...the 2nd movement is a complete contrast, sad and somber, with a dirge-like melody played by the brass section, and with echoes of his 5th symphony. The 3rd returns to being lighter in feeling, and in the 4th, he borrows more themes, this time from Wagner.

The 2nd Piano Concerto is a big favorite of mine, and here played well by Mikhail Rudy. Shostakovich wrote it for his son's 19th birthday (pianist/conductor Maxim Shostakovich), and it's incredibly melodic, with a glorious 2nd movement. Sadly neglected, way too many people (even musicians !) don't even know this magnificent concerto even exists.

The final piece is from a film score and is lovely and melodic. I'm giving this CD 4 stars because of the sound. I don't mind recordings sounding "old", but this one, recorded in 1997, is flat, and lacks clarity. It's also very low in sound...I have to increase the volume to hear it...and it doesn't do the LPO, Jansons or Rudy justice.

The 15th symphony of Shostakovich dates from 1971 and from those on the inside track of listening to Shostakovich it seems to be a return to a more classical style. Even though there is a sense of balance of weight in the music it seems to present some of the eccentricity of old age. Sticking the familiar "William Tell" Overture right in the middle of the first movement is one of these many strange things that this symphony presents. Yet what Shostakovich does show us is that he is the master weaver of melody. That if music was a fabric that he could weave anything together.

This symphony which seems to start on high spirits plunges into the depths of gloom and doom and almost morbid reflection in the second movement. But this is an easy comfortable funeral-like movement. The opening cello solo is very fine. And this would be almost suitable for funerals if it weren't for the "terrible" climaxes. Nothing so bad that anyone can't sit through. In fact quite listenable and symphonic! Just that this music which at first seems like it would be suitable in mourning the dead comes back to life in "ugly" climaxes. The end of the second movement starts with the scherzo-like music already in place for those who are watching the timings of each movement on their CD players. But the two movements are connected without pause so those not watching it will go unnoticed.

The third movement is kind of like the old man has some tricks up his sleeve still. It doesn't so much try to dazzle as to act like the clown in a circus doing magic tricks. A quote from the 4th symphony is there, but you don't have to know Shostakovich to appreciate it. Like the many quotes in this symphony they are there, but not necessary to appreciate the music.

The final movement is very appropriate and almost as though Shostakovich planned it to be his final word on music. Again funeral-like music precides. Unlike the second movement however there is a feeling of resignation and surrender in this movement. It gives up the fight that the second movement seemed to present. The music goes out with an interesting clicking of percussion. Then the final note...a single tap on the triangle? What is this? The afterlife? The completion of life? Shostakovich leaves it to you and me to decide for ourselves what this quirky masterpiece lasting about three-quarters of an hour means.

Of course it comes to mind what the two Russian expert conductors thought about this symphony. Namely Mravinsky and Kondrashin. I think it is little surprise that neither of them really grasps this work the way Haitink, Ormandy, or Jansons does. That is because at this time in Shostakovich's life he deals not what it is like to be a Russian, but what it like to be human on this planet which we live. It is almost at this point that Shostakovich's music goes beyond the borders of countries and beyond space and time to become truly something universal that speaks to all people.

Mariss Jansons gives his best in this version of the 15th. It has in my estimation almost perfect timings of all the movements. Both the tempi and dynamics are perfectly judged. The only other competitor that I can think of that comes close is Haitink with the same orchestra (LPO).

The Piano Concerto No.2 for me is filler and not really the main work to be considered on this CD. Rudy does a good job. I guess the real key is not making any mistakes in this easy concerto. The second movement, not necessarily this version, has been used on compliations of relaxation music.

The fillers from the Gadfly don't sway me one way or the other on this CD either.

A great Shostakovich 15th. One of the greats in recorded history of the work IMHO. Five Stars.

I have always thought the Adagio of this sublime concert is a real future jump . Consider in this sense the Andante of the Mozart ninth concerto , the Lento of the Bach arrangement fifth piano concerto or Beethoven second movement of his third piano concerto.

Shostakovich composed something deepes than a simlpe 19 th anniversary for his son . He was thinking in the future . This movement is loaded of cosmic nuance and nosthalgical high level moods .

The couple Jasnson Rudy works out to the perfection .

Michail Rudy is one of the strange pianists of today who seem to isolate of the rest of the standard . His sound does not seek effectism . He is an absolut artist , deeply involved in the meaning of every bar and the sense of every work he plays .

It is not a question related with the technicianship , it is much more than that . He assumes a real commitment with the score . I knew thanks to a Liszt recordings and his pianism surprised me positively .

His inmense skills and deep musical thought makes from him a real hope in this great universe of countless performers, but where only a few have something to say .

In comparing a couple of Nielsen recordings a few reviews back, I began my remarks by whining about how I had quickly come to be disappointed by the music contained on those disks, and how that made it difficult to bear down on the critical task at hand. With this music, however, I can happily report that the more I listened to these two disks, the more I enjoyed the music--and the recordings--making this much more a labor of love than a burden of duty.

Indeed, I enjoyed both these recordings so much that I find it difficult to recommend one over the other. A factor that made comparing the two rather difficult is that the recording levels are quite different, with the EMI recording having significantly higher output compared to the Denon. I should point out that for this comparison, I took advantage of having a remote-control preamplifier in for review, and used the remote preamplifier to switch back and forth between the selections from the comfort of my chair. But every time I switched, I also had to adjust the volume level, and no matter how careful I was, I always had the suspicion that the EMI disk was being played a little bit louder.

At any rate, my overall impression is that these are two really fine performances and recordings of the score. The Denon is recorded more distantly, and as I mentioned above, the output level is lower than the EMI. Both are excellent recordings, with the EMI getting the slight nod from me because of its little bit of extra detail and its slightly greater immediacy. Again, though, I would stress that both recordings are exemplary.

In terms of performance, it is again hard to choose between the two. I found that I liked the slower, more expressive tempo of Jansons's performance of second movement Adagio, but in the fourth movement, I preferred the slightly quicker tempo chosen by Inbal. Both orchestras sound in top form, with a splendid time being had by all.

What will most likely steer a potential purchaser to one recording or the other will be the other music packaged on the disk. The Inbal comes with an excellent performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No.1, an exuberant work that is always a delight to hear. The diskmates on the Jansons disk are the Piano Concerto No. 2 and a short orchestral suite taken from his opera, The Gadfly. For my money, I would rather have the two symphonies, and for the listener new to the music of Shostakovich, I would recommend the Inbal disk, on the grounds of more musical bang for the buck. For the collector who already has a favorite recording of the Symphony No. 1 and is interested primarily in obtaining a top-flight recording of the Symphony No. 15, I would recommend the Jansons.

Overall, then, the bottom line is this: I prefer the Jansons (EMI) recording of the symphony, but I prefer the Inbal (Denon) CD. I recommend both CDs, then, but for different reasons to different prospective purchasers.