Search - Tretyakov, Ussr State Symphony :: Plays Shostakovich

The one to take when the house is burning

G. Weis | 11/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One can read remarks by Harald Fuesse about a clone of this cd on the amazon web page for the Yedang release of these performances. I agree with Fuesse about the depth and significance of these performances. Because I have heard so many recordings of it, I am in a better position to judge this reading of the Violin Concerto No. 1 than I am of No. 2. I believe this live concert performance of the former on June 16, 1981 by Tretyakov to be unequaled. The heart of this piece is the passacaglia proper, in the third movement (after the orchestral introduction and prior to the cadenza). In addition to being potent and poignant, as is so much of Shostakovich, it is the most beautiful music he ever wrote, and achieves that mysterious and miraculous union of the tragic and sublime as well as any music I know. These qualities are so well expressed here by Tretyakov in part because of his ability to create an almost vocal sound with his instrument. One hears occur a real narrative arc. It is a jaw-dropping, astonishing performance, and anyone with a serious interest in, much less love of, great music, who is at a point where they are sympathetic to Shostakovich's idiom, simply must hear it before they die. The other recordings of the VC No. 1 worth hearing are, in order, Oistrakh/Mravinsky, Kogan/Svetlanov, Oistrakh/Mitropoulos, and Kogan/Kondrashin. One comment on the sonics of VC No. 2 (a much lesser work in my opinion): here there has obviously been employed some kind of noise suppression, which takes away a bit of the reality and presence of the violin. This is not the case in No. 1, which although balanced in favor of the soloist, is in very life-like sound."