Shostakovich Sanderling

This cycle of Shostakovich’s Symphonies has constantly offered interesting and thought-provoking interpretations alongside striking performances. Wigglesworth started his traversal with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, recording Symphonies Nos. 5, 6, 7, 10 and 14 with that orchestra, and in 2005 continued the project with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 4 in C minor, op.43; No.5 in D minor op. 47; No. 6 in B minor, op. 54;
No.7 in C major, Op.60 'Leningrad'; No. 8 in C minor, op. 65; No. 9 in E flat major op. 70 –
Kirov Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg (with Rotterdam Philharmonic on Op. 60); Valery Gergiev
Classical | 5 CDs | EAC Rip | 1,27 GB (3% recovery) | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS links
Publisher: Philips | Recorded: 2001 | Published: 2003

This is one of Gergiev's finer performances on disc. His rhythmically taut, propulsive conducting makes for a powerful rendition of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony-one that is strongly argued and purposefully projects the work's grand, dramatic sweep. (on Symphony No. 7)
Gergiev gives the Fifth an admirably direct, clean performance full of excitement and intensity. (on Symphony No. 5)
Gergiev's Shostakovich Fourth has a textural clarity that reveals many rarely-heard details, such as the strings' shimmering Ravelian downward scale in the first movement's final bars. (on Symphony No. 4) – classisctoday.com

An early entry in Bernard Haitink’s Shostakovich cycle, this winning performance of the Fifteenth Symphony promised much for what was eventually to become a series greatly varied in quality and inspiration. It may be asking too much for a Western conductor to perform all of these symphonies with the same intensity and passion as might be shown by any of several Soviet counterparts, who were, after all, living and working under the same system that had so oppressed and threatened the composer. As for Symphony No. 15, its lesser degree of brutality than most of its predecessors makes it a good match for Haitink’s tidy conducting style.

The Radio Legacy is a compilation of the seven part Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the four box sets devoted to the orchestra s chief conductors Willem Mengelberg, Eduard van Beinum, Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Chailly, and also featuring more recent recordings with Mariss Jansons.

RCO - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Volume 6, 1990-2000 (2011) {14CD Box Set, RCO 11004} (Complete Artwork)
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 4.36 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.40 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1990-2000, 2011 Radio Netherlands Music / RCO LIve | RCO 11004
Classical / Orchestral

I bought this shortly after my first visit to the Concertgebouw itself, when I was bowled over by the hall's superb acoustics and atmosphere. So these live broadcast recordings were pungent evocations of the experience. But even without that, this is a box worth having, if you can afford it. The first two discs alone are dynamite: a marvellously dramatic, idiomatic account of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle with Ivan Fischer and Hungarian soloists, followed by one of the best Mahler Fifths I've heard, from Tennstedt in 1990.