Shostakovich

The Mandelring Quartet plays with unflinching resolve, sympathetic expression, incisive attacks, and penetrating tone, which are all necessary in Shostakovich's sardonic and frequently bitter language.

The later Mikhail Kopelman-led Borodin Quartet recordings of the complete string quartets of Shostakovich aren't so much better than the earlier Valentin Berlinsky-led Borodin Quartet's recordings as they have more than the earlier recording. For one thing, there are two more quartets; the earlier cycle stops with 13 because Shostakovich hadn't gotten any further yet. For another thing, the playing is more emotional; the earlier cycle is violently expressive, but the later cycle has more humanity.

Pianist Nikolay Rubinstein, for whom Tchaikovsky wrote his First Piano Concerto, initially remarked that the concerto was completely unplayable. How ironic that not only was he made to eat his words during his lifetime, but that the concerto has been one of the most widely performed and recorded works in the repertoire. Of course, with that kind of widespread attention, each subsequent recording has more and more difficulty distinguishing itself from its predecessors. Pianist Denis Matsuev, joined by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, manages to succeed in making this a memorable addition. Matsuev's playing is nothing short of Herculean; he plays with all the muscularity and bravura of Yefim Bronfman and then some. He is equally comfortable in delicate and nimble passagework, with the scherzo imbedded in the second movement even more dexterous and swift than Arcadi Volodos. The Shostakovich First Concerto is equally as enjoyable. Less a showpiece than its earlier cousin, Shostakovich affords Matsuev to show off his sensitive voicing, lush sound, and exceptional musicianship. Supporting Matsuev's authoritative playing is Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, which matches pacing, temperament, and color with aplomb.

The "Under Stalin's Shadow" subtitle of this release may be confusing inasmuch as the opening Passacaglia from the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District dates from before the period when Stalin made Shostakovich's life a living hell, and the main attraction, the Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93, was finished ten months after Stalin's death. Actually the album is the first in a set of three; the others will cover the symphonies No. 5 through No. 9, all written during the period of Stalinist cultural control. But even here the theme is relevant: the pieces are linked by a dark mood that carries overtones (of a feminist sort in the case of the opera) of repression. And the Symphony No. 10 is decidedly some kind of turning point, with repeated (and finally triumphant) assertions of the D-S-C-H motif (D, E flat, C, B natural in the German system) that would appear frequently in the composer's later work.

This is a unique collection of audio documents that captured the genius Soviet composers playing for posterity. The major bonus of the set is a 'home-made' recording of the violin sonata performed by the composer and David Oistrakh. The four-hand piano transcription of the Tenth Symphony recorded together with the outstanding composer Mieczysaw Weinberg will also spark an evident interest. Shostakovich recorded concertos, chamber ensembles and vocal cycles with some of the greatest twentieth-century musicians such as Daniil Shafran, Nina Dorliak, Zara Dolukhanova, Alexei Maslennikov, Maxim Shostakovich and the Beethoven Quartet.

Though there are many recordings of the popular Symphony No. 7: 'Leningrad' (for good reason, as this is one of the finest of Shostakovich's glowing works), the catalogue listing for recordings of the Symphony No. 12: The Year 1917 is less lengthy. This would probably come as no surprise to Shostakovich himself, as this particular work represented inner conflicts in his own view of his homeland political milieu, views more nebulous on the surface but suggested in the context.

The good news is this recording of Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony is in the same class as the best ever made. The even better news is it's the start of a projected series of recordings of all the Soviet master's symphonies. Vasily Petrenko has demonstrated before this disc that he is among the most talented of young Russian conductors with superb recordings of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony and of selected ballet suites. But neither of those recordings can compare with this Eleventh. Paired as before with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Petrenko turns in a full-scale riot of a performance that is yet tightly controlled and cogently argued. Said to depict the failed revolution of 1905, Shostakovich's Eleventh is not often treated with the respect it deserves, except, of course, by Yevgeny Mravinsky, the greatest of Shostakovich conductors whose two accounts have been deemed the most searing on record. Until now: Petrenko respects the composer's score and his intentions by unleashing a performance of staggering immediacy and violence, a virtuoso performance of immense drama, enormous tragedy, and overwhelming power.