Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Dmitry Yablonsky, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra :: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 'Leningrad'

Shostakovich 7: Leningrad Op 60

Laird Bibler | 05/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Superb. Simply superb. I have the Haitinik and Barshia versions of Shostakovich's 7th, and both are wonderful. This recording is beyond wonderful. It's splendid. It's magnificient. Add it to your Shostakovich collection. You'll never regret it."

Gets the point ACROSS

Six Stringer | Midwest, USA | 03/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer above does a very nice job of breaking down the micro details of this perfomance's "faults" (although, that is up to the reader to determine if they detract from their listening experience.)



I find this to be a very human performance of the Seventh. The tragedy is conveyed very very well. The orchestra's ability to express the jovialness of the "Bolero" like theme in the first movement, only to turn sour and downright menancing is fantastically done. I find the overexhuberant tuba to be the right medicine here.



Perhaps more than any other composer this side of Mahler, Shostakovich was able to convey intense emotion through his music, and it is present in this recording in spades.



How about the clarinet wailing in the second movement? Fantastic. One can almost see the poor mensch being taken away by the Stalinist authorities, "rehabilitated", and returned. When the clarinet reenters it seems to say, I've drank the cool-aide and feel much better now. Yes, quite.



That clarinet part is perhaps my favorite in all of music save the sultry intro to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".



Is this a top notch recording? A first recommendation? For some perhaps. The recording is very clear and up to standards of the best. The playing is committed, and the mood is set. Perhaps it is not the most perfect performance, but the demands of the score are high. There is no hesitation here to give it five

stars.

"