Here is a brand new recording of Shostakovich's masterpiece,
recorded in superb sound just last year. The Dallas orchestra brought
this work to the Proms and this disc was obviously recorded after their
world tour where they had had plenty of rehearsal time plus subsequent
performances to hone their interpretation. In addition, Delos's recording
quality is all the orchestra and listener could possibly hope for with
clarity and depth captured to perfection in the orchestra's home in
Dallas.
Delos has coupled the tenth with a performance of the
sixth, and the problem that this has caused them is that the combined
playing time is just over what can at presently be accommodated on a
single CD. This means that the second disc in this set plays for just
under 30 minutes. However, since the company sells the two discs for
the price of one in a slim line double case, the awkwardness is mitigated
somewhat.
I was at the Proms performance of the Tenth,
and must admit that I came away from the concert less than fully satisfied
by the performance, even taking into account that it was live, and with
the added atmosphere of the Proms to the fore. I am afraid that the
doubts remain, not from the standards of playing from all departments
of the orchestra, but more from the interpretation. I find the first
movement usually overwhelming, and I did not think that the present
performance has the sweep and continuity of the best performances. There
are too many tempo changes and stops and starts to give the sweep that
this symphony needs and gets, in the hands of other interpreters such
as Karajan, Mravinsky, Mitropoulos and more recently from Ancerl.
All of these earlier issues are less well served by
their respective recordings (the two Karajan performances less so than
the others). If you must have a slap up to date version, then you can
do no worse than to buy the version by Mariss Jansons on EMI with the
Philadelphia Orchestra. For me however, the performance of this work
is the most important factor and I am afraid that I would choose Ancerl
as the primary recommendation every time. [review]
Here on Delos, with the first movement starts and stops
over, the remainder of the symphony is quite decently played, with a
fast and very accurate reading of the vicious scherzo - the portrait
in sound of "Old Joe". The finale should be a fused mixture
of jollity and jubilation (at the passing of the Russian leader) touched
with pathos and with a vein of tragedy just below the surface representing
all the terror and uncertainty of life in the Soviet Union. It is beautifully
played, but only skates the surface of this music - I long for something
more.
The Sixth is less problematical. This symphony
has been less lucky on disc than the tenth, but there are still some
superb readings in the catalogue. The slow first movement is the heart
of the work, and again is laden with doom and tragedy. This is followed
by two shorter, faster movements, which are characterised by a somewhat
hollow humour, almost apologetic. The Dallas performance is once again
superbly played and recorded, but in comparison with the Dutton issue
with Stokowski, we enter into a totally different sound world (unfortunately
also from the recording).
Once again the less problematical movements (2 and
3) are both superbly played and recorded. These two discs will clearly
suit hi-fi addicts and the general listener who is not looking to be
shattered by either of these powerful works. I would therefore recommend
them with caution.
John Phillips
John Quinn has also listened to this disc
This is the latest instalment of what seems to be a
slowly evolving Shostakovich cycle from Andrew Litton and his Dallas
orchestra. Both recordings are ‘live’ and though the specific recording
dates of each symphony are not specified I strongly suspect that the
Tenth Symphony was set down in September, 2000 after the orchestra returned
from a European tour. That symphony was in their touring repertoire
then and I recall hearing a fine broadcast of the Tenth from the Proms.
I may as well nail my colours to the mast straight
away. I have long regarded the Tenth as Shostakovich’s finest symphony,
surpassing even the monumental Eighth, and its first movement has strong
claims, I think, to be regarded as his greatest single symphonic movement.
Happily, the Dallas forces give a performance worthy of this magnificent
score.
I was interested to read recently the comments of another
contributor to the web site who strongly criticised Litton as a ‘bland’
conductor. Well, on the evidence of this performance that charge doesn’t
stand up! I compared Litton’s performance against Karajan’s highly regarded
1982 recording and found that Litton is just as successful in maintaining
tension and atmosphere.
Furthermore, Litton has at his disposal an excellent
orchestra and he must take credit for training them. For example, the
strings, particularly as recorded by Delos, have that all-important
depth and sonority which is needed to sustain the long, brooding lines
in the lengthy opening paragraphs of the first movement. Then the wind
solos are, without exception, eloquent and characterful and the brass
section is powerful and sonorous. Listen to the build up to the huge
climax of the first movement (from about 10’ 00" onwards); this
should lay to rest any charges of blandness. Maybe this performance
hasn’t quite the raw power and energy of Mravinsky or Mitropoulos, but
how many have? No, this disc contains as cogent and well argued an account
of this great symphonic edifice as one could reasonably expect to hear.
Litton’s way with the explosive second movement is
excellent. The punchy opening string chords are delivered with just
the right amount of weight and with absolute precision of attack. The
rest of the orchestra, screaming winds, biting brass and emphatic percussion,
gradually pile in and the result is four minutes of controlled but savage
power. This movement may or may not be a musical portrait of Stalin
but, when played like this, it raises hairs on the back of the listener’s
neck.
This is a good time to mention the sound quality. Without
detracting from the efforts of players or conductor it must be said
that the engineers have made a significant contribution to the success
of this issue. It was instructive to compare this new recording to Karajan’s
early digital recording, made under studio conditions, to see how far
recording technology has advanced in twenty years. Beside the Delos,
the DG sound is shallow and one-dimensional. I have heard several Delos
releases in recent months and have been greatly impressed with the sonic
results. This new disc is another impressive achievement. Though made
in concert there is no obtrusive audience noise.
Returning to the music and to the third movement, it
always seems to me that Shostakovich’s tempo marking, ‘Allegretto’ is
a danger point for interpreters. If the speed is a degree too slow the
irony fails to register. On the other hand if the tempo is even a fraction
too brisk the music merely sounds jaunty. It seems to me that Litton
judges the initial pulse absolutely correctly and when the horn ushers
in the reminiscence of the first movement he also catches the new mood
unerringly. Throughout this movement he allows the tension to ebb and
flow with complete understanding.
The ruminative introduction to the finale brings some
of the most accomplished playing on the whole set with impressive contributions
from the woodwind principals cushioned on a bed of hushed string chords.
Again, one feels that Litton has the measure of this important passage.
The suspense is palpable until the "release" of the main allegro.
This allegro may be lively but, of course, it is anything but good-natured.
There are touches of sardonic humour but for the most part the emotional
currents run at a far deeper level. Litton’s account of this movement
is suitably powerful and trenchant.
So, a fine achievement. A performance of some stature
very well played and superbly recorded.
I have to say that I am not quite so sure about the
accompanying performance of the Sixth symphony. This is a strangely
constructed work in which a long slow movement is followed by two much
shorter quick movements which together do not last anywhere near as
long as the first movement. It is not just in terms of timespan that
the first movement carries the main argumentative weight of the work:
its material is also more significant. Unfortunately, it is Litton’s
approach to the first movement which makes me uneasy.
The booklet notes include a quotation from Shostakovich
which I had not previously seen. Writing in a magazine in 1939 he said
of the then-unperformed symphony: "In my latest symphony, music
of a contemplative, lyrical tenor predominates; I wished to convey moods
of joy, spring, and youth." Now Shostakovich was notoriously ambiguous
about his own music, often writing, one suspects, with an eye to whomever
might be examining his words for "political correctness".
Did he really mean this about the Sixth symphony? I have to say this
comment does not seem to me to sit easily with the minor key. Neither
does it accord with either the thematic material or the scoring of the
first movement, both of which seem to point to a more dark and brooding
mood. Furthermore the comment does not really fit with the performing
tradition of the work, at least in the recordings which I have heard.
Certainly Andre Previn in his 1974 recording with the
LSO (which is not as well played as is Litton’s account) is tougher
and more searching in this movement. Even more magnetic are two much
earlier recordings, those by Fritz Reiner and the Pittsburgh Symphony
(1945) and the 1940 account by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra
(the work’s premiere recording). All three of these plumb the depths
to a greater degree than does Litton, I think. His tempo is just a little
too fluid and some of the phrasing just a little too smooth to make
the right effect. Of course, to what extent he may have been influenced
by the quotation referred to above I do not know. Overall timings are
never a wholly reliable guide but it is interesting to note that Litton
takes 17’.46" for this movement whereas his three rivals range
from 18’.27" (Reiner) to 19’.20" (Previn, just a bit too broad,
I think).
Litton also takes the other two movements at a faster
pace than these other conductors but here the advantage lies with him,
I believe. The extra brio conferred by his swifter tempi is highly appropriate
to these two perky and sardonic movements. The orchestra has no problems
with the fleet tempi and the movements are dispatched with panache and
wit.
Despite my reservations over the first movement of
the Sixth this issue is to be welcomed. There remains much to admire
in the performance of the Sixth as a whole and the Tenth is very fine
indeed. The playing is of a very high standard throughout and the recorded
sound is in the demonstration class.
John Quinn
Dallas
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton