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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
‘My aim was to convey human feelings and passions in this work,’ Shostakovich said of his newly completed Tenth Symphony in 1953. And it is clear exactly what it was that he wanted to relate: Stalin was dead, and after his music had been publicly denounced for being too abstract in 1948, Shostakovich had finally plucked up the courage to write another symphony. With the Tenth Symphony, Shostakovich effectively put his memories of the great tyrant behind him. Ever since Kirill Kondrashin and Bernard Haitink first led performances of Shostakovich's Symphonies in the late 1970's, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has astonished audiences and record buyers with their level of refinement and involvement in this repertoire. With the tenure of Mariss Jansons, a degree of authenticity is added; like Kondrashin before him, Jansons has experienced himself what it is like to work under Soviet conditions. Following the award winning RCO Live release of his interpretation of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, Jansons's take on the composer's Tenth Symphony, presented on this new hybrid SACD, adds another benchmark performance to the orchestra's discography. | 
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| |  | Evgeny Svetlanov conducts Shostakovich & Tchaikovsky
Rimsky Korsakov: | The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia: Massacre at Kerzhentz Royal Albert Hall, London, 30 August 1968 The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia: Hymn to Nature Royal Albert Hall, London, 30 August 1968 | Shostakovich: | Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 Royal Albert Hall, London, 21 August 1968 | Tchaikovsky: | The Snow Maiden, Op. 12: melodrama Royal Albert Hall, London, 22 August 1968 |
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. “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.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 10dsd recording, Mariinsky Concert Hall, St Petersburg, 2009-2010
For the the third title in his Shostakovich symphony cycle, Valery Gergiev again couples two works from different stages in the composer’s career. Although Shostakovich’s symphonies are usually highly programmatic, the Third and Tenth Symphonies are amongst his most enigmatic works. Symphony No. 3 was first performed in January 1930, its final movement setting a text by Semyon Isaakovich Kirsanov praising May Day and the revolution. Shostakovich stated that the work “expresses the spirit of peaceful reconstruction” and yet much of the music is dark and sombre in tone. The Tenth Symphony is one of his most popular and frequently heard works. It was first performed in December 1953 following the death of Stalin, although Shostakovich had been working on much of the material incorporated in the symphony for many years. The great Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya claimed that the symphony was “a composer’s testament of misery, forever damning a tyrant.” Previous releases in Gergiev’s Shostakovich cycle include Symphonies Nos 2 & 11 and Symphonies Nos 1 & 15, the latter of which was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The Mariinsky label will release its second recording with pianist Denis Matsuev during May 2011 featuring Shostakovich’s piano concertos. Gergiev’s recent releases on LSO Live have included Mahler’s Symphony No 5, an Outstanding Recording in International Record Review. “Valery Gergiev conducts his Mariinsky Orchestra – on its LSO-backed house label – in thoughtful accounts of astonishing detail. The playing – and recording quality – in this important Shostakovich cycle is hugely impressive.” Yorkshire Evening Post, 15th April 2011 “riveting, pugnacious, and genuinely taut performances...And how wonderful to hear a truly Russian chorus capture the blind utopian optimism of the finale...It is a thrill to sense the contrast of the Third's youthful joy against the pungent maturity of the Tenth. And Gergiev knows exactly how to touch every nerve.” The Scotsman, 3rd May 2011 ***** “He treats [the Third] like a film score, making the most of graphically illustrative passages...and inspiring the massed ranks of the Mariinsky Chorus to sing their hearts out in the stirring choral finale...there are some extremely impressive things to discover in Gergiev's interpretation [of the Tenth], particularly in the second half of the work...There's some wonderfully expressive woodwind playing, too” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 ****/* “The Allegretto [of the Tenth] is taken quite swiftly and is the most successful movement, the puppet-like dance quite poker-faced, while the repeated 'Elmira' motif...is sensitively played by the horns...[in the Third] Gergiev favour[s] sprightly tempos, even if these exaggerate the sometimes trite nature of the musical material...The performance is capped by the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus, singing with fervour.” International Record Review “In the Third Symphony, the overriding priority is a sense of enthusiasm - one that has to be driven towards the manic, then shadowed by nightmarish visions, and finally colossally reasserted, one that has to be fuelled from start to finish by unshakeable self-belief. Gergiev and his Mariinsky players have all those qualities at their fingertips...If this is outstanding, the Tenth is even more so.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011 “Gergiev and his orchestra charge through the Third Symphony's roistering torrent of ideas, so that the music seems to hold itself together by adrenalin alone: the result, like the work itself, is brash and brilliant...the one that matters is the Tenth Symphony: Gergiev's superb, tight-reined interpretation holds its own with the best.” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 ***** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 10 ranks among his finest works. From the bleak introspection of the extended opening movement, through the graphic evocation of violence in the explosive Allegro, and the eerie dance-like Allegretto alternating between dark and light, to the final movement’s dramatic climax, this is a work of breathtaking musical contrasts. In 2010 Vasily Petrenko was named Male Artist of the Year at the Classical Brit Awards. “The Tenth is a symphony into which many have been tempted to read parallels with Shostakovich's life...The refreshing thing is that Petrenko treats it as a great symphony in its own right...All dynamics and metronome marks are scrupulously observed, but details never impede the progress of this rippling, human tragedy.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2010 ***** “The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s version boasts both finesse and splenetic attack” Financial Times, 5th November 2010 “Petrenko and the RLPO have achieved a triumph. The orchestral playing is ripe, detailed, lithe, concentrated and intense. Petrenko has full measure not only of the symphony’s overarching architecture but also of the individual facets that make it such a fascinating conundrum.” The Telegraph, 5th November 2010 ***** “Petrenko’s masterly performance builds inexorably from the ruminating brooding of the low strings and lamenting wind solos to the most shattering climax, as the full orchestra erupts in howls of anguish and rage. His whipcrack tempo for the scherzo is one of the most menacing I can recall...A thrilling performance.” Sunday Times, 21st November 2010 **** “Petrenko's Shostakovich cycle goes from strength to strength...[his] instinct for pacing enables the power of Shostakovich's symphonic design to register to maximum effect. If there has been a finer account of the Tenth in recent years, I confess I must have missed it.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2011 “Petrenko shapes the long first movement - nearly 23 minutes - very well, paying close attention to phrasing and emphases...The orchestra plays for all its worth at the climaxes...The 'Stalin' Allegro is as brutal as you will find anywhere, and there's plenty of excitement and wit in the Finale.” Classic FM Magazine, January 2011 **** “Petrenko and his band show us that the music has greater timbral interest than we often imagine...there's barely a page of the symphony where we don't hear some telling orchestral detail...Solo work is subtle throughout, especially in the symphony's more introverted passages.” International Record Review, December 2010  BBC Music Magazine
Orchestral Choice - December 2010 |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
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“to rival the very best” Gramophone Magazine | | | (also available to download from $21.00) | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| | | |  | Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93The Royal Festival Hall, London-6th March 1968
“The Royal Festival Hall is a notoriously unforgiving acoustic which especially at this time had a problematic, dry clarity. Nevertheless with canny and practised microphone placement this recording captures fidelity without undue spotlighting. It also captures the full complement of strings that the Prague orchestra took with them...This fine performance, extremely well captured in sound, is a most worthwhile addition to the discography of the Tenth” MusicWeb International, March 2012 “Smetáček was a fine conductor and here he shows an outstanding grasp of the long symphonic span of the first movement and a gripping, frenetic kind of urgency when it’s called for elsewhere. The orchestra plays with tremendous clarity and attack (as well as taut discipline) and the result is an account that deserves a very warm recommendation. The sound is particularly clean … this is a remarkable performance.” International Record Review, June 2012 “Bottom line: Karajan’s version is now out of my collection and Smetáček’s is now in. This one is truly a gem” Fanfare, December 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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