Comparison Recording:
Bernard Haitink, London
Philharmonic Orchestra - Decca "Ovation"
425 068
I was too young to
know what was going on when at the height
of World War II the score of this work
on microfilm was flown by special air
courier via Tehran and London to New
York where Toscanini and Stokowski were
battling for the privilege of being
allowed to conduct the U.S. premier
performance. Toscanini won; but reportedly
said "I was a fool" when later
confronted with the music. Never mind
him. I’ve loved this work passionately
from the first note the first time I
heard it. And I must admit I’m also
a fan of Yablonsky’s, so I looked forward
to hearing this disk and was not disappointed.
On the DVD-Audio discrete
surround tracks the orchestra is focused
up-front with hall ambience from the
rear channels. The DVD Audio sound is
magnificent, utterly overwhelming, with
the opening burst of optimistic song,
then the tiny, distant snare drum building
steadily but inexorably through Shostakovich’s
musical double pun on Ravel and (J.)
Strauss to the full exploding horror
of war and violence. At the climaxes
with full orchestra, snare drum, bass
drum, timpani, glockenspiel and cymbals,
everything is perfectly clear and differentiated,
present with overwhelming impact but
no fatigue. I’ve never heard an SACD
match this quality. In the second movement
the strings and winds are sweet and
clear without a trace of edginess. Did
you know there are pp staccato
tremolando flute notes in this
movement? The clarinet squeals with
appropriate anguish. In the third movement
occur the flute and pizzicato
string effects that Alan Hovhaness borrowed
to such good effect in the slow movement
of his Mt. St. Helens Symphony.
But when the beautiful dream is over,
the nightmare returns, if not quite
so explosively as in the Hovhaness.
The low string phrases at the beginning
of the fourth movement were wonderfully
clear and realistic and the long build-ups
and long fades are steady and, with
this terrific dynamic range to work
with, very effective. You probably never
heard the subtle col legno effects
in this movement. The finale, with its
Khachaturian-like lead-up, is definitely
over the top, but it is much easier
to take when everything is so perfectly
clear and undistorted. I had to play
it a second time because, in truth,
I had never really heard it before.
The DTS tracks are
not quite so clear as the DVD-Audio
tracks, and the AC-3 Dolby tracks are
less clear still, as one would expect.
One would also expect that all these
tracks would have clearer sound than
the CD tracks, but I did not have the
CD issue to compare directly.
Is this really a better
performance than the Haitink? Both are
beautiful recordings, while the DVD-Audio
wins by a mile (1.62 km) on sound. As
strictly to performance, I won’t know
for some time, but right now you’d have
a fight trying to take either one of
them away from me.
A bizarre thing occurred
when playing the DVD compatible AC-3
tracks (which are the only ones you
can play on a low-end DVD player) on
my Win98SE computer utilising the Software
Cinemaster DVD player: the sound at
the beginning of the first movement
faded in, starting from silence
taking two bars to reach full volume.
This did not occur when playing these
same tracks on my Sony stand-alone DVD
player, the first note attacked as it
should, so it must be a peculiarity
of this software, which is, however,
quite popular.
Paul Shoemaker
Colin Clarke
also reviews the DVDA version
When called upon to
review
this conductor’s Alexander Nevsky
on CD (also on Naxos), I questioned
the recording quality. When my colleague
Paul Shoemaker heard
it on DVD Audio, the improved sonics
seemed to make a big difference .
Alas I have yet to
hear that Nevsky on DVD-A, but
here from the same forces is a Shostakovich
Leningrad that seems to confirm
what Paul reported (the recording venue
is the same). The sound on this disc
is generally excellent, with superb
detail and a real sense of space and
depth. Only occasional muddying of lower
mid-range detail detracts (cello scales
about 50 seconds in, for example), yet
the presence of, say, the solo violin
(just before six minutes into the first
movement) is remarkable. Of course,
Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony includes
in its pages the test of recordings
par excellence - the famous crescendo
in the first movement. Here, the disc
has no problems on the technical side;
interpretatively, though, it does not
gain sufficient steam to make the impression
it should.
Much care has gone
into the preparation of this performance.
The dance-like second movement demonstrates
this amply, with the string staccati
nicely presented and accompaniments
carefully articulated. Perhaps there
is too much evidence of care and too
little of abandon, though - squealing
clarinets do not seem to dare to be
garish and overall this makes for a
tame experience.
The third movement
is the best part of this ‘Leningrad’
by far. Concentration is well maintained,
and there are some beautifully tender
arrival points. The manic, animated
section is tremendously exciting (and
how nice to have accurate violins in
their more angular moments!).
The recording triumphs
in the finale, where lines come through
clearly. The recording copes with the
climaxes with no problems at all, yet
still conveys real pianissimi.
Well worth hearing,
then. There seems to be no such thing
as a clearly recommendable Shostakovich
‘Leningrad’ at the moment, despite a
number of fine efforts (Gergiev on Philips
is perhaps a useful stop-gap). Yablonsky
is at least several leagues above the
Caetani version that recently
came my way .
Booklet notes are by
Richard Whitehouse - the musical description
part of them is precisely that, of the
‘this happens, then this happens, then
that happens’ variety. Much more impressive
is the choice of cover ‘Leningrad in
1941’by Andrei Mylyanikov, as bleak
a picture of oppressed industrial Winter
as one could hope to find.
John Phillips
reviews the CD version
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH
(1906 - 1975)
Symphony No. 7 Leningrad (1942)
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitry
Yablonsky.
Rec. Studio 5, Moscow State Broadcasting
and Recording House, February 2003.
DDD
NAXOS 8.557256 [75’17"]
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Shostakovich’s 7th
Symphony has had a very chequered career.
It has ranged from extreme popularity
to utter disdain and now enjoys what
can be seen as a resurrection. London
performances of it nowadays are usually
well attended and the finale usually
brings the house down. Recording companies
are also jumping on the bandwagon (several
recordings have been issued recently)
and Naxos has joined the procession.
Naxos has had a recording of the Leningrad
in their catalogue for a number of years.
This was by the Slovak Radio Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Ladislav Slovak.
It was well worth replacing as it was
far from satisfactory.
So how does the new
disc compare? Dmitry Yablonsky comes
with a very good background in training
for his craft and his orchestra is extremely
proficient. The thing I dislike about
the performance is that it sounds like
a gentle stroll through the intensive
drama which is at the centre of the
Leningrad Symphony. For example,
in the first movement which pictures
the onward drive of the Nazis towards
the city of Leningrad, the orchestra
plays it as if it was a gentle stroll
through the countryside. This aspect
of the playing is all very well but
there are far better renditions in the
catalogue. Gergiev, or better still,
Ancerl get the picture and recreate
the white hot inspiration of the composer,
who at the time of composition was actually
held captive in the city, and was experiencing
the many hardships directly.
The second movement
is an intermezzo, one of the few symphonic
intermezzi written by Shostakovich.
Yablonsky makes quite a good job of
it. When however we reach the searing
adagio, which, in the right hands is
an intense experience, here again is
an almost gentle approach. This is just
not on, and although there is much correspondence
in the press about how improved a performance
can be when the full glories of SACD
are brought to a recording, I don’t
expect to find that this performance
will ever be brought up to the level
where it is an accurate picture of the
composer’s inspiration. The finale steals
in, almost apologetically; this movement
is meant to be a cry of joy from the
heart that the siege is over. Shostakovich
brings all the large orchestral weight
to bear on the final peroration. Here
the orchestra, conductor and recording
all deliver the goods, with superbly
well balanced sound and with the timpani
making their important contribution
clearly and without undue prominence.
Unfortunately, one
does not buy a disc for the last 4–5
minutes only, and so while I applaud
the handling of this part of the score,
I can’t help wondering whether it is
the composer making it very easy for
them.
This new release is
also available in SACD format; but I
have not heard this.
I approached this issue
with some anticipation as I was hoping
to be able to recommend it as a budget
version well worth owning. Unfortunately
this is not the case, and if Yablonsky
can get future issues to be played throughout
in the spirit of the last few minutes
of this disc all will be well. Otherwise,
this cycle may end up being better played
and recorded than the Slovak cycle,
but none the more recommendable for
the atmosphere being generated by all.
A great pity.
John Phillips
Paul
Shoemakers guide to audio formats
