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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | 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: 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: Works for Two Pianos
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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. 93Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 28 August 1986.
Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony was first performed shortly after Stalin’s death in 1953. This was the first of his works to be completed without the restraints of strict communist artistic control hanging over him. A dark and tragic tone is projected throughout the symphony and the distinct contrasts create a dramatic and intense work. Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall during the 1986 BBC Proms under conductor Bernard Haitink, the London Philharmonic Orchestra gives a compelling account of this monumental symphony. He instinctively knows with this symphony when to increase tension and when to relax - and whilst relaxing he never loses your attention, there is always direction and an onward undercurrent. The tiny rays of sunshine in the otherwise ominous slow opening are perfectly judged examples of this. “The 10th is almost equally impressive [as Haitink's Shostakovich Symphony No. 4]: taut and controlled in the first movement, wonderfully introspective in the third movement Allegretto and the introduction to the finale.” The Guardian, 22nd August 2008 **** “Haitink's long-term vision of the music's organic development comes across compellingly in this live recording. While there are distinct contrasts between the propulsive scherzo, the ghostly dance of the third movement and the inexorable force of the first movement and finale, the thread of the argument is sustained with probing power.” The Telegraph, 23rd August 2008 “…the sense of occasion brings an extra charge to the Allegretto's climactic battle between Shostakovich's personal signature and the Mahlerian horn cry of liberations, and to the conflicts of the ultimately triumphant finale.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 ***** “The Tenth has never seemed dependent on performers steeped in the Russian tradition and the only drawback of Haitink's well played, expertly recorded studio account (1977) was its over-confident tone in the enigmatic third movement. Attempts to decode that Allegretto have gone through several phases since but it remains desirable to convey a mood of wistfulness and frustrated self-assertion.
There's no lack of subtlety in this 1986 Prom relay which also has the advantage of a true sense of euphoria at the end. The applause is earned, frenzied rather than merely respectful though rather abruptly faded. In other respects little has changed. The inexorability and stoicism of the big opening Moderato is predictably impressive and there is no hint of restraint in the Scherzo which some, Kurt Sanderling among them, have been prepared to accept as a portrait of Stalin himself.
Whatever the truth of this, Haitink's musical priorities always deliver the goods and his admirers will welcome this unexpected reclamation from the archives of BBC Radio 3.
The famously resonant acoustic of the Royal Albert Hall gives us the sound from the bottom up, with great weight in the cellos and basses. The booklet-note by Geoffrey Norris appropriately eschews speculative revisionist comment. Is the Tenth Shostakovich's greatest single achievement? Haitink may make you think so.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| | | |  | Shostakovich: | Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 The Big Lightning An operetta Vsevolod Grivnov (tenor), Dmitry Fadeyev (bass), Oleg Dolgov (tenor), Andrei Baturkin (bass), Tatiana Sharova (soprano), Anatoly Safiulin (bass) |
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