Shostakovich: Symphony Nos.6 & 9

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 54
Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich
Performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Sir Adrian Boult

2. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70
Composed by Dmitry Shostakovich
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Malcolm Sargent

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
These recordings are part of Everest's extraordinary backlog of Fifties and Sixties classical masterpieces. Some of us have discovered "undiscovered" composers from these original vinyl LPs. Dmitri Shostakovich's music went through many stages and changes, depending on Stalin's mood. His Symphony No. 6 (1939) begins unpredictably with a grim largo that belies the happy Soviet modernism of his famous Symphony No. 5. Only in the Sixth do we start getting hints of Shostakovich's true feelings toward his country's plight. His Symphony No. 9 (1945) also fooled everybody, both for its brevity and for its humor. Sir Adrian Boult's recording of The Sixth is magnificent. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook

Tracks:

Symphony No. 10: Scherzo
Gimpel The Fool: 'Jester's Song And Mazel Tov'
Through The Looking Glass: Looking-Glass Insects
Grand Canyon Suite: Sunset
Billy The Kid: Gun Battle
Symphony No.6: Movements III. And IV.
Piano Concerto: Adagio
Wassail Song
Fleurs
Menuetto
Symphony No. 51: Finale (Allegro)
Suite For Skip And Sadie: Good Morning
Piano Trio: Tema con Variazioni
Treestone: Tristopher Tristian
Prelude In G Minor
A Quaker Reader: Movements IV and VIII
Symphony No. 6: Scherzo (Leggerissimo vivace)
The Miraculous Mandarin: The Miraculous Mandarin (excerpts)
Symphony No. 2: Finale (Allegro vigoroso) (Excerpt)
Roman Festivals: Roman Festivals (excerpts)
Nights In The Gardens Of Spain (excerpts)
Daphnis And Chloe: Daphnis and Chloe (excerpt)

Average customer rating:

Even better than the original Everest lps!

Shostakovich: Symphony Nos.6 & 9

Manufacturer: Everest Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Sergei Prokofiev: Chout/Lieutenant Kije Suite
Stravinsky: L'histoire du soldat; Milhaud: Création du monde Op81

ASIN: B0000023GH
Release Date: 1995-01-25

Tracks:

Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Largo
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Allegro
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Presto
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Allegro
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Moderato
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Presto
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Largo
Symphonies No. 6 & 9: Allegretto

Amazon.com

These recordings are part of Everest's extraordinary backlog of Fifties and Sixties classical masterpieces. Some of us have discovered "undiscovered" composers from these original vinyl LPs. Dmitri Shostakovich's music went through many stages and changes, depending on Stalin's mood. His Symphony No. 6 (1939) begins unpredictably with a grim largo that belies the happy Soviet modernism of his famous Symphony No. 5. Only in the Sixth do we start getting hints of Shostakovich's true feelings toward his country's plight. His Symphony No. 9 (1945) also fooled everybody, both for its brevity and for its humor. Sir Adrian Boult's recording of The Sixth is magnificent. Highly recommended. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Even better than the original Everest lps!.......2003-04-30

Well... just as good, if my aural memory serves me well. These were impressive recordings back in the day of their original release: stunning sound, and performances that were (and are) deeply satisfying.

Boult's recording of the 6th was the first I ever owned -- and my second Shostakovich recording, following the Mitropoulos/NY recording of the 5th (and how I miss that classic, mono recording!). Boult's genuine Largo pacing of the 1st movt. spoiled me for every other performance I've heard, since it was my initial exposure to this music. There is no denying Mravinsky's authority in this music, and yet I miss the great sorrow that Boult reveals in the pages of this Largo, and the great beauty of the song-like theme that emerges toward the end of the movement. The London Philharmonic is supurb.

Customer Reviews:

Superb performances and sound.......2004-02-26

Conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic from 1941-60, Kurt Sanderling was a colleague of Shostakovich and is sensitive to the genius of these symphonies, which are not as well known as the 5th, 10th, or the "war" symphonies (7&8). This is a good bet if you want 1&6 together, well-played and well-recorded, as would be any of Sanderling's Shostakovich symphony recordings. His take on the 15th symphony is supposed to be particularly rewarding. These Berlin recordings were from 1983 for the 1st, and 1979 for the 6th. The digital remastering is superb. The booklet features excellent background info on Shostakovich's writing of the 1st and 6th symphonies, and there is a timeline of the conductor's life & career.

Average customer rating:

A bitter, rather coarse Sym. #1, a sober, inward Sym. #6

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
Dmitry Shostakovich , Leonard Bernstein , and New York Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Royal Edition, No. 66 Of 100: Maurice Ravel

ASIN: B0000027NM
Release Date: 1993-09-21

Tracks:

Sym No. 1 In f, Op. 10: Allegretto-Allegro Non Troppo
Sym No. 1 In f, Op. 10: Allegro
Sym No. 1 In f, Op. 10: Lento
Sym No. 1 In f, Op. 10: Allegro Molto
Sym No. 6 In b, Op. 54: Largo
Sym No. 6 In b, Op. 54: Allegro
Sym No. 6 In b, Op. 54: Presto

Customer Reviews:

A bitter, rather coarse Sym. #1, a sober, inward Sym. #6.......2005-09-11

Bernstein conducted Shostakovich better than anyone outside Russia (I wonder if someone holds that title for conducting American music outside the U.S.?) His later recordings for DG are a bit ponderous in their effort to dig out every bit of meaning from Shostakovich's idiom. But LB's earlier performances with the NY Phil. are just as personal.

This Sym. #1 is quirky, exposing more edge and bite than most conductors find in the score. Very little here is saucy or witty. Bernstien's view is already bitter, foreshadowing the persecuted Shostakovich rather than the show-off prodigy. The 1972 sonics are also edgy and hard, in fititng alliance with the reading.

The 1965 recording of Sym. #6 sounds much more open and natural--it's one of the best that Bernstein's Shostakovich ever received. The opening Largo becomes a tragic outcry in Mravinsky's hands; no one else strikes quite that depth of emotion, including Bernstein, but he conducts it with solemn beauty, and the orchestra is at its best in producing haunting spare lines of melacholy reflection. Perhaps because the rollicking Scherzo is often criticized for sounding trivial by comparison, Bernstien takes it fairly slowly and draws deeper tone than usual. This allows him to gallop through the finale, but even here he reins in the high spirits. A sober air hangs over the entire work, which is quite valid. Of the two readings, I prefer this one to Sym. #1, but both are gripping and cnvincing.

Average customer rating:

Temirkanov delivers, but he doesn't rise to the heights
Just above average

Shostakovitch: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000JLNB
Release Date: 1999-07-13

Tracks:

Festive Overture, Op. 96
Symphony No. 1, Op. 10: Allegretto
Symphony No. 1, Op. 10: Allegro
Symphony No. 1, Op. 10: Lento
Symphony No. 1, Op. 10: Lento; Allegro molto
Symphony No. 6, Op. 54: Largo
Symphony No. 6, Op. 54: Allegro
Symphony No. 6, Op. 54: Presto

Amazon.com

This disc contains a surprise and a disappointment. The surprise is Yuri Temirkanov's jaunty run through Shostakovich's youthful Symphony No. 1, written when the composer was just 19. The St. Petersburg Philharmonic seems to take great delight with the diverse palette of orchestral colors the symphony presents; it also takes well to its sudden mood changes. However, the Sixth Symphony here is a botch. Everyone seems to be having an off day. The pacing of the magnificent opening movement is much too fast and the sound dynamics of the recording studio allow for too much shrillness in the woodwinds and flatness in the percussion. Adrian Boult's take on the Sixth is still the best; and the First still belongs to Bernstein. --Paul Cook

Customer Reviews:

Temirkanov delivers, but he doesn't rise to the heights.......2006-07-02

Although he became RCA's house conductor for the Russian orchestral classics, I wonder if the American public realizes how great Temirkanov is. Unless you happened to live in Baltimore during his brief tenure there, or attend his occasional visits with the St. Petersburg orchestra to Carnegie Hall, Temirkanov has little presence here (and his name is harder to remember than Gergiev). This 1996 Shostakovich CD features a very alert, beautifully played Sym. #1. Temirkanov doesn't see the work as youthful high jinks (neither does his chief competitor, Gergiev, whose Kirov Orchestra now outshines the once-illustrious St. Petersburg Phil.). He plays it rather seriously but with lots of detail, aided by BMG's very clear, natural recording, which is blissfully free of shrillness in the upper range.

The Sym. #6 performance is far from a 'botch,' as the Amazon reviewer claims, but I expected more than Temirkanov delivers. The opening Largo is one of Shostakovich's great slow movements, but it depends on repeating the same two themes, and to be fully successful, the conductor must build one long span of emotion that rises to tragic utterance. Temirkanov, besides being a bit fast, doesn't dig into the music's intensity enough. The only reading that has ever overwhelmed me was in the LP era, when Mravinsky and the same orchestra released a Melodiya recording on Angel. I don't think that version has eve resurfaced, unfortunately. The last two movements are done very well by both Temirkanov and hsi musicians, though he doesn't evoke the manic thrills of Mravinsky in the Scherzo.

In all, the reviewer who calls this CD 'just above average' hits the nail on the head, but we're talking about the average set by a great conductor. I thinnk I'll try his remake of both symphonies, just released on Warner classics.

Just above average.......2002-06-05

I bought this CD from ... because it was the only CD they had in their local store that featured the Festive Overture, a truly great piece. I don't have anything bad to say about the overture itself--the music is great and they play it well. I just sense that something is lacking. It's not quite robust enough for my tastes. The symphonies, while lacklaster, do have a couple worthwhile nuggets, such as the finale from the 6th. This is not a bad CD by any means, but I would suggest to search for another.

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous Playing, Less Gorgeous Sound, Pale Interpretation

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Pentatone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 [Hybrid SACD]
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in c minor [Hybrid SACD]
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 [Hybrid SACD]
Mendelssohn: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 [Hybrid SACD]
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (Hybr)

ASIN: B000EBEH4A
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Tracks:

Allegretto-Allegro Non Troppo
Allegro
Lento-Largo
Allegro Molto-Largo-Piu Mosso-Presto
Largo
Allegro
Presto

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous Playing, Less Gorgeous Sound, Pale Interpretation.......2006-05-04

I have been increasingly an admirer of the conducting of Vladimir Jurowski (who is, as most know, the son of veteran conductor Mikhail Jurowski, himself a Shostakovian of note) and fully expected to like this recording. But to some extent any positive response is tempered by what I perceive as an emotional reticence on the part of the conductor to let this music speak fully. This is no fault of the Russian National Orchestra, surely one of the world's finest. It could to some extent be a function of the CD's recorded sound which, although rich, lush and lifelike, tends to have a bass-laden autumnal glow around it that cuts into the music's immediacy. (I did not listen to the SACD layer. My views are based on listening to the plain vanilla CD layer only. It is possible that the SACD layer might reveal things I couldn't hear.)

I guess I could sum up my complaints in one sentence: These performances are too civilized, too restrained, too polite. I think I know why Jurowski got this effect -- he was going for suppressed, rather than extrovert, anguish in those sections that contain that emotion. And to some extent he obtains it. But where are the rough and tumble moments, the raw emotions that should come rushing to the surface? Listen to the Allegro of the Sixth Symphony. It is all silken bustling, but it is also lifeless, even in those passages that have the urgent brass interjections. Listen to those wind portamenti; they are so perfectly played that one doesn't get the sense of emotional stress that surely Shostakovich intended. Instead, one admires the player's ability to play them smoothly. As for the slow movements, there is too little life in them. They trudge, not because of angst but because they have no inner rhythmic tension.

The recorded sound is partly to blame. The dynamic range is extremely wide and when one cranks up one's volume to hear the soft passages, the loud passages become almost unbearably so. And no matter what volume one uses, there is still that fuzzy nimbus around the sound so that there is little linearity, little cut-glass clarity.

Scott Morrison