Evgeny Svetlanov conducts Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

The present disc has indisputable documentary significance. With Soviet bloc tanks newly arrived on the streets of Prague on August 21, 1968, the Shostakovich...risked being seen as 'oppressor's... — Gramophone Magazine, December 2011 More…

Release Date: 30th Aug 2011
Catalogue No: ICAC5036
Label: ica classics
Series: Legacy
Length: 61 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Work length50:38

Album only

USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded: 21 August 1968
Recording Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

I. Moderato

Track length22:43

Album only

II. Allegro

Track length4:23

$1.00

$1.30

III. Allegretto

Track length11:56

$3.00

$3.85

IV. Andante - Allegro

Track length11:36

$3.00

$3.85

Excerpt, Tchaikovsky: The Snow Maiden, Op. 12

Work length2:55

$1.00

$1.30

USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded: 22 August 1968
Recording Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Melodrama: Andantino, quasi Allegretto

Track length2:55

$1.00

$1.30

Rimsky Korsakov: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia: suite

Work length8:22

$2.00

$2.60

USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov
Recorded: 30 August 1968
Recording Venue: Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

I. Prelude. A Hymn to Nature

Track length4:34

$1.00

$1.30

III. Battle of Kershenets

Track length3:48

$1.00

$1.30

About
Reviews
Videos
Explore

About

Evgeny Svetlanov (1928–2002) was, together with Mravinsky and Kondrashin, one of the greatest Russian conductors of the 20th century. He was principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (Russian State Symphony Orchestra) from 1965 to 2000 and became a familiar figure in London (notably with the LSO in the 1970s), France and Japan.

These performances have never been issued before on CD.

The performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10 was given on the very night that Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia in a concentrated effort to halt ‘The Prague Spring’, the liberal political reforms initiated by Alexander Dubcˇek. The atmosphere in the Royal Albert Hall, as can be heard from the shouts of protest, was electric and very tense. It is likely that the USSR State Symphony Orchestra had not heard the news, but after the first few bars, the disruption was finally drowned out by other members of the audience and from various accounts, Svetlanov, as can be heard here, then went on to give the performance of his life. Svetlanov’s widow, on hearing the test pressings of this CD, said that the performance brought tears to her eyes and the emotion of that evening came across very strongly.

Two short bonus titles have been added – Tchaikovsky’s Melodrama from The Snow Maiden and two excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov’s Invisible City of Kitezh (here recorded in stereo) –, reflecting the historic three concerts Svetlanov and his orchestra gave in London at the August 1968 BBC Proms.

Reviews

December 2011

The present disc has indisputable documentary significance. With Soviet bloc tanks newly arrived on the streets of Prague on August 21, 1968, the Shostakovich...risked being seen as 'oppressor's music'. The atmosphere in the Royal Albert Hall was palpably tense...He delivers a compelling interpretation of the Tenth...It is fascinating to revisit the brutal power and timbral specificity of Svetlanov's archetypally Soviet band.

Videos

An error occurred.

Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.

Evgeny Svetlanov conducts Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue