I have loved the enigmatic and moving
Shostakovich 14th Symphony since I first heard the RCA
Ormandy, Curtin/Estes, Philadelphia recording on vinyl back in the 70's
as a classical music crazed teenager. I frankly have heard it so
many times, words and musical passages are imprinted on my mind.
Whether you wish to think of it as a symphony or a song cycle a la
“Das Lied von der Erde” matters little. It is really, if you look
at it all closely, Shostakovich's most intimate and emotional
masterpiece.
Vasily Petrenko began his Royal
Liverpool cycle on Naxos in 2009 with an excellent 11th
Symphony. It seems only the incredible and under-performed “Babi
Yar” 13th is left after the release of the 14th
this month (April 2014). Most have been quite good, challenging the
highly regarded Kondrashin and Barshai recordings. Naxos' bargain
price is a plus, since the Kondrashin is hard to find (and the
complete cycle is now priced in the stratosphere) and Barshai is most
easily available in a complete cycle not individually.
So what is my first impression of the sometimes chilling, sometimes nostalgic and often neurotic 14th? First and foremost, the all-important
vocal soloists, Gal James, Soprano and Alexander Vinogradov, bass, are
usually in good form. Only hiccup (pun intended) is James'
unconvincing “Kha, kha, kha, kha, kha. I ya khokhochu” sobs in
“Madam, posmotrite!” Vinogradov gives us an overall powerful
performance, with a most expressively eloquent “O Delvig, Delvig”. The important and colorful percussion is uniformly excellent throughout.
The weak points are the sometimes
tentative, weak Liverpool strings, especially noted at the very
beginning of the symphony and in the last climactic death rattle at
the end. They redeem themselves with a gut wrenching col legno
episode in “At the Santé Prison”
movement, the abandoned prisoner pacing in his gloomy has rarely been
so realistically portrayed. The "Lorelei" episode is exciting, but a touch frenetic.
Petrenko gives us a well paced
performance, around 50 minutes, leading to a rather skimpy disc. But
really, what else could accompany a work like this? Sound, played
through my computer speakers via the Naxos Music Library, seems to be
good. Finally, it appears the usual fine, informative performance
notes are included with this recording, another plus of the Petrenko
cycle.
Overall, an excellent performance but I
still can not live without the Barshai led performances with
Vishnevskaya/Reshetin or with Simoni/Vaneev in the Cologne
recording. Barshai was there at the beginning and has the music in
his veins. The Curtin/Estes Ormandy is a sentimental favorite, with
some of the most impressively ghoulish cover art ever devised. Avoid Bernstein's and the Haitink sung (in a version sanctioned by the composer) in the original languages... it just doesn't sound right.
Shostakovich Symphony # 14 (1969)
Gal James, Soprano, Alexander
Vinogradov Bass
Vasily Petrenko Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic
Naxos 8.573132
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