Best ever Shostakovich 11?
mainFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
…. The 11th is another matter, a revelation. Named ‘the year 1905’ after the first Russian revolution and intended to keep the commissars off the composer’s back, the symphony is widely misunderstood as his acquiescence to the posy-Stalin regime, when it was nothing of the sort. By taking the opening Adagio at a snail’s pace, Nelsons opens up the inner textures to expose trepidation in place of celebration, private humanity ahead of political bluster….
Read on here.
And here.
The 11th, like too many of Shostakovich’s symphonies, is unfairly neglected and/or maligned.
I have come to love and admire the Shostakovich 11th symphony.
It has tension, panic, drama, sorrow, yearning, hope for the future and so much more. It is a tremendous work.
This recording from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony is very satisfying and a brilliant version. In future, I will listen to it in preference to any others.
… even the Houston Symphony Orchestra’s?
That is a very much liked account and there are others, I know.
Maybe I should have said “in preference but not exclusively” 🙂
The 4th which is coupled with the 11th is also very fine. I’m looking forward to the completion of this cycle, which could become one of the best. The orchestral playing, recorded sound and conducting are all top drawer. Too bad Nelsons’ Bruckner cycle is not on the same level.
Indeed the Bruckner is not on the same level, and one wonders why Deutsche Grammophon assigned a whole cycle to Nelsons as if he were some sort of Bruckner expert when in fact he is just learning the ropes and probably will never become suited to the music’s joyous songful counterpoint.
Olassus, you make a great point. I’ve been hearing Nelsons’ Bruckner live in Boston, and my gut tells me he is going to competent in Bruckner but not great, eve as he develops. What Nelsons’ Bruckner seems to be missing to my ears is the spiritual component. I’ve really enjoyed his live performances of 6 and 3, and did not care for 7 and 4 (and we hear 9 this season). The underlying thread is that the spiritual element that Karajan and Jochum in particular bring to their interpretations is generally not present in Nelsons’. I also suspect that at age 40, both Karajan and Jochum were putting across more compelling Bruckner performances than Nelsons is. But I’m also a believer that people can and do grow, and it is distinctly possible that Nelsons could turn out to be one of the great Bruckner conductors of his generation. But he’s definintely not there yet, in my opinion.
Got his 5,8,9 album. Sitting with other Shostakovich lovers and comparing, Nelson’s 8th lost to Haitink, Rozdentsvensky and Barshai. Haitink is superbly recorded, and so refined.. Rozdentsvensky has enormous power, rough around the edges, but superb. Barshai – the others didn’t like him so much, but for me it was touching. Perhaps because I heard Barshai conducting the 8th many, many years ago with the Jerusalem Symphony (1978?).
Looking forward to hearing the 4th with Nelsons in London next week, in the Proms.
Excellent recording, agreed. I’m not sure what the score says – can anyone advise? – but I love the bell to ring out after the close. (It doesn’t here.) Seems surely appropriate for Shostakovich’s most Mussorgskian symphony?
To me, the real knock-out performance in this set is the 4th. I collect lots of recordings of the 4th – being a Mahler enthusiast and all – and Nelsons’ is as good or better than any in my collection. That includes all the usual big-name Russians too.
The 4th works on two levels. It’s the first of S.’s symphonies to tell the story of the horrors of living in Stalin’s 1930s Soviet Union. On another level, it’s clearly a tribute to Mahler (Shostakovich knew all the Mahler symphonies quite early in life).
But yes, the 11th is quite good also.
I resist “best-ever” designations, but one 11th I always liked was with James DePriest and the Helsinki Philharmonic.
11th by Nelsons Maybe to some of your liking , but not what Shostakovich wrote
Great music can withstand a wide variety of interpretation. Kondrashin, Mravinsky, Rostropovich knew DSCH and performed his symphonies quite differently and yet all are considered master interpreters. Nelsons has a better orchestra and better sound than any of them – I like it!
In what way? Please elaborate. Do own a score to back your words up (I’m not doubting that you do; just want to know)?
Getting all excited about this new recording ! It’s always good to see that DSCH is still being recorded but calling “Best ever” .. I mean come on
Yes! The tempo is too fast or too slow and exaggerated wh it doesn’t need to be, of course it’s all interpretation but the finale of the second movement almost falls apart in the “speed race “ and the glaring error is at the symphony completion when the bell sound continues until it fades !
To me, that’s very similar – but nowhere as big a deal (to me, anyway) – to the marking to allow the tam-tam to ring on at the very end of Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances”. I hate it when they cut the big gong off.
As far as tempi being too fast, too slow, exaggerated, etc. – I just don’t feel that S11 is a great enough piece of music to sweat those things. To me, it’s very cinematic. I’m only speaking for myself.
As a teenager, Shostakovich became the first composer I fell in love with as I traversed through different eras, nationalities, etc. As I branched out and started exploring his entire oeuvre, I fell in love with symphonies 4-8, 10-13 and 15. This past season, I had the pleasure of attending the friday matinee performances of the BSO and their renditions of the 11th in fall 2017 and the 4th in spring 2018. Unfortunately, the recordings do not do justice to the intensity and raw power that Nelsons brought out of the BSO.
From the tension created in the opening movement of the 11th to the climax of the second movement – the engineers did their part to really knock the wind of out of the proverbial sail. That being said, its still a damn good effort, even if it does not replicate my concert experience. I own 16 versions of the 11th and for me, only Haitink and Stoki edge Nelsons out.
For the 4th, its as close as perfect as you can get. And again, for me, only Chung with Philadelphia edges him out.
I am fascinated by everyone’s comments and SHostakovich’s music. I could talk DSCH talk all day long. I’d appreciate hearing more from others.
Daniel,
You make a point that I am sure many recognise.
The experience of being in the concert hall for a great performance cannot be fully replicated in a recording.
The performance grips and you feel that “you are living it”. At the end of a dramatic work you are left almost drained by the emotional demands made of you.
I attended a live performance of the Shostakovich 11th conducted by Nelsons and in that first movement there was not a single sound from the audience. It was as if everyone was holding their breath throughout (which obviously was not the case or we would have expired!). I am sure you know what I mean.
Derek –
Thanks for affirming my belief about recordings vs the live concert experience. I completely agree with you that the first movement had the audience completely engaged. The tension was palpable. I am hoping to return to see performances of the 1st and 15th this season.