Shostakovich: Mariss Jansons

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the great Soviet composer Dmitry Shostakovich, Mariss Jansons assembled eight of the world's finest orchestras to determine which is the best of his 15 symphonies. There is no doubt that Jansons is the man for the job. Trained under Mravinsky and long steeped in Shostakovich's music, Jansons brings a lifetimes' love and intimacy to his interpretations - not to mention a terrific baton technique and an unfailing sense of tempo.

Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. From 1971 to 2000 he was also professor of conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

Born in 1943 in the Latvian capital of Riga, Mariss Jansons grew up in the Soviet Union as the son of conductor Arvid Jansons, studying violin, viola and piano and completing his musical education in conducting with high honours at the Leningrad Conservatory. Further studies followed with Hans Swarovsky in Vienna and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. In 1971 he won the conducting competition sponsored by the Karajan Foundation in Berlin. His work was also significantly influenced by the legendary Russian conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky, who engaged Mariss Jansons as his assistant at the Leningrad Philharmonic in 1972. Over the succeeding years Mariss Jansons remained loyal to this orchestra, today renamed the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as a regular conductor until 1999, conducting the orchestra during that period on tours throughout the world. From 1971 to 2000 he was also professor of conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire.

Mariss Jansons considers Dmitri Shostakovich to be one of the most serious and sincere composers ever, and finds the fifteen symphonies in particular to be deeply moving and captivating. He sees their music as bearing shattering testimony to a traumatic era of political darkness, while remaining a timeless expression of existential human feeling and experience. Over a period of seventeen years, Mariss Jansons has recorded all the Shostakovich symphonies, on each occasion together with the orchestra he was artistically associated with at the time. Six of the performances were with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

This recording of the 6th and 9th Symphonies is an interesting combination. The three-movement Sixth Symphony, with its brooding first movement, energetic second movement, and almost circus-like last movement, and the cheeky, almost light-weight Ninth. Note that I used the word "almost". Shostakovich manages to get pretty serious in places (the second and fourth movements come to mind here). That being said, the performances and recording of both works are first rate. There is no doubt that Mariss Jansons is a master interpreter of the music of Shostakovich.

The performance by Mariss Jansons and the London Philharmonic is excellent. Jansons fully exploits some striking moments in the 15th, and generally takes a balanced approach, at different times selecting tempi that are slower or faster than the norm, with high quality orchestral playing. In Jansons’ 15th, his Adagio is particularly successful. Jansons effectively builds to a powerful climax at the end of the long finale.

Mariss Jansons' EMI Shostakovich symphony cycle took nearly two decades to complete, yet it was mere weeks after the release of the final installment (Symphonies 3 & 14) that this new boxed set appeared, providing an opportunity for collectors to get all 15 symphonies at a bargain price. But don't let the packaging's diminutive dimensions fool you: there's nothing small-scaled about the music making.

Mariss Jansons' EMI Shostakovich symphony cycle took nearly two decades to complete, yet it was mere weeks after the release of the final installment (Symphonies 3 & 14) that this new boxed set appeared, providing an opportunity for collectors to get all 15 symphonies at a bargain price. But don't let the packaging's diminutive dimensions fool you: there's nothing small-scaled about the music making.

Mariss Jansons' EMI Shostakovich symphony cycle took nearly two decades to complete, yet it was mere weeks after the release of the final installment (Symphonies 3 & 14) that this new boxed set appeared, providing an opportunity for collectors to get all 15 symphonies at a bargain price. But don't let the packaging's diminutive dimensions fool you: there's nothing small-scaled about the music making.