Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Chicago Symphony Orchestra :: Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1; Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"

Colossal Leningrad! Bernstein and the Chicago Symphony fire

dv_forever | Michigan, USA | 04/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From Leonard Bernstein's last decade there are quite a few gems scattered around on DG. This is one of the finest things from his DG catalogue and the only time he recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The First Symphony here is perhaps not as spontaneous sounding as his version from the 1960s but I could care less when it's played and recorded this well.



The Leningrad Symphony is a monster. Bernstein's previous recording has it's many fans. Still you can't top the Chicago Symphony leveling the competition in grand digital sound. The snarling brass section must be the best in the world and they all get quite a work out here. Bernstein opens up expansively and leads us into the beginning of that irritatingly repetitive march section of the first movement. As trivial as this music is, it leads to one of the greatest climaxes in all of Shostakovich and Bernstein rings out every last drop of emotion. What powerful playing!



The second movement, marked "moderato" is the one place where a faster tempo would have elevated the game. Bernstein's critics will probably harp on him here but the harps would be inappropriate for the sweeping adagio and especially the furious finale which will shatter your roof at the climactic coda. The beastly brass put on quite a storm. This performance benefits from some of DG's best sonics in the digital era. That's a clear advantage over Bernstein's earlier New York version from the 60s. That version will always have it's fans because it's the young Bernstein after all but when you hear this digital monster, you'll likely be as pleased as I am.



Having owned this Leningrad for years, I've never encountered another performance that operates on this level of emotional involvement. Bernstein puts many conductors to shame, what with all their superficial refinements. We want power and madness in the Leningrad! Not that the playing is rough or ugly. It's world class and on fire to boot!



I'm glad DG has decided to re-release this performance on their Grand Prix label which singles out critically acclaimed recordings. The sound is the same as the earlier full priced issue. But there is no need for any remastering when you've got digital this good. Five stars!"

Extraordinary

Jeff Brown | Portland, OR | 12/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To put it simply, this is fantastic music played extremely well and priced at a superb reduction. There is no better version of Shostakovich 7 available and while some may argue that the 1st symphony here is not the best, it is still very good. The recorded sound, for the time it was recorded in, is quite good, but against modern recordings this is not good enough. Still, the engineering captures a wide dynamic range, a good amount of detail, and a full frequency range from the big impact of the bass drum to the softest high pitches in the strings. The 7th symphony here is truly spectacular. There are lots of good recordings, but they all fall far short with either boring `invasion themes' or finales without any energy. All here is played very well: the invasion theme never sounds boring, but instead just keeps building and the finale is wonderful. The finale has incredibly difficult music with multiple individual voices at full volume playing different lines. The full brass section must be on for this to work and boy does it work here. It is the prototypical Chicago sound of that period throughout both works and in true demonstration quality in the 7th's finale. You should buy this without hesitation."