Yet another set of Shostakovich
Symphonies if the booklet is to be believed
– it is described as Complete Symphonies,
Volume 1. Do we really need another
complete cycle? So far we have had them
from Barshai, Haitink, Järvi, Kondrashin,
Kosler, Rostropovich and Rozhdestvensky,
together with partially completed cycles
from Jansons, Polyansky and Maxim Shostakovich.
Has the recording industry learnt nothing
over the years about saturating the
market? Whilst we haven’t yet reached
the number of complete sets of the Beethoven
Symphonies, is there really a market
for the number of versions available
at present? If a new series is to make
a dent in the market, it really has
to be something special, and the present
issue, I am afraid, whilst being superbly
well recorded, played and safely performed,
does not dent the competition.
The Beethoven Orchester
Bonn is new to me, and I was extremely
impressed by the standard of playing
on this disc; you really could not fault
it. This is a note-perfect performance,
and not only that, the recording is
stunningly good. Recorded in a church,
the acoustic is warm, without being
over-reverberant, and the sound at times
is really thrilling.
The problem I have
with is that it all sounds way too comfortable.
If we remember the conditions under
which it was written and what it represents
to the composer, this type of performance
is just not on. The symphony was written
immediately after Stalin’s death and
the composer had spent many years previously
with a packed suitcase beside his bed,
expecting the KGB to call during the
night and take him away to the depths
of Siberia, as happened to many of his
artistic colleagues.
The scherzo is a portrait
of ‘old Joe’ himself and in this performance,
I completely miss the terror, impressive
though the playing is. Also, at the
height of the first movement, when the
gradual ever-upward movement of the
orchestra is increasingly emotional
and finally spills over into a tremendous
release of energy and emotion, this
performance gives a clear idea of the
notes written by the composer, but not
the emotions behind them. Try Mitropoulos,
Mravinsky or better still, Karel Ančerl
in these passages to hear the difference
between a well played work, and a performance.
As you may also imagine,
the jubilation at the conclusion of
the symphony describes the emotions
felt by the composer when at last set
free from the strain of the dictator’s
influence. In any of the earlier performances
mentioned above the difference is immense,
and immediately noticeable.
The conductor Roman
Kofman is new to me and I was impressed
by his training of the orchestra, but
I shouldn’t have been surprised – with
his pedigree and training it should
not be surprising that he has done a
first class job. He was trained in Kiev,
having obtained his diploma in violin
playing at the Kiev Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Having changed to conducting in 1971,
he has held the following positions:
chief conductor of the Donetzk Philharmonic
(Ukraine), Seoul Symphony Orchestra,
Philharmonia Pomorska. Since 1990 he
has been in charge of the Kiev Chamber
Orchestra, and in the early 1990s founded
the National Orchestra of Ukraine. He
has guest conducted many orchestras
in Germany, being offered the chief
conductorship of his current ensemble
in the late 1990s. They are producing
together the Shostakovich Symphonies,
and they will also be released in DVD
Audio (2+2+2) system.
Another concern – why
only Symphony No. 10 on a full price
release - there is plenty of unallocated
running time for a substantial coupling.
John Phillips
Beethoven Orchester Bonn/Roman Kofman.