Shostakovich: The Lighter Symphonies
Ryan Kernaghan | New South Wales, Australia | 01/30/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The great Soviet composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, composed fifteen symphonies throughout his turbulent and often dangerous career. His First Symphony dates from 1926, when he was just nineteen years of age, and was successful enough to gain him attention as a promising new talent in the increasingly rich fabric of the musical repertoire of the U.S.S.R. The Ninth came after much turmoil, including the composer's humiliating censure over his only opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, and continuous fear for his safety and that of his family. It was composed in 1945, and was expected by the public to celebrate the glory of Stalin for 'his' victory over Nazism, and the joy in the prospect of a postwar, communist future. Indeed, Shostakovich's work is often lively and in a far more celebratory mood than his earlier Fourth, Eighth, and later Tenth symphonies. Yet the adulation of Stalin was never a priority for the composer, rather this was to be a celebration of the Soviet people's role in the victory.
Walter Weller is in his element with these jaunty symphonies, and his style brings out all of the youthful exuberance of the First, and the reticent enthusiasm of the Ninth. The coupling with the Suite from The Golden Age, Shostakovich's ballet satirising Western custom, is appropriate and a lot of fun. Jean Martinon secures a typically vivacious response from the London Symphony. Excellent recording of the symphonies, but The Golden Age supplements are dry. This does not, however, retract from a very enticing presentation, which offers incomparable value on this Decca Eloquence label."
