Any recording by the
London Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Mstislav Rostropovich deserves to
receive attention. It is good to have
their 1989 account of the Tenth Symphony
back in the catalogues. The conductor
and orchestra undoubtedly have a mutual
respect for each other and a real affinity
for Shostakovich’s music. In fact, their
compelling account of the Eleventh Symphony
‘The Year 1905’ on LSO0030, recorded
live in 2002 at the Barbican in London,
impressed me so much that I class that
version as my favourite Shostakovich
recording.
On one occasion Shostakovich
stated, doubtless to keep himself out
of trouble with the Soviet Authorities,
"In the final analysis, everything
is said in my music. It has no need
of historical or hysterical commentaries."
That said, the Tenth Symphony is not
just pure music and at least part of
the score had a hidden personal programme.
Shostakovich said in his memoirs, "But
I did depict Stalin in music, in the
Tenth". He had been severely rebuked
by the Communist Party under Stalin’s
leadership in 1936 being accused in
Pravda of ‘formalism’. In 1948, again
together with other leading composers,
he suffered severe censure by the Communist
Party for failing to write what the
Party thought Soviet audiences ought
to hear. The Ninth Symphony of 1945
was denounced for its "ideological
weakness" and for its failure to
"reflect the spirit of the Soviet
people". At the time of the attack
Shostakovich was at the peak of his
compositional abilities and his sensitivities
must have been severely injured. Following
the death of Stalin in 1953 and the
return of a more liberal political climate
the composer began to feel able to assert
himself artistically and finally release
those deeply personal works, such as
the Tenth Symphony, that he had composed
privately and kept in the drawer and
withheld for several years.
The first important
symphonic work to emerge since the 1948
denunciation, it is not clear exactly
when Shostakovich composed the Tenth
Symphony. It is a prominent landmark
arguably the greatest of his fifteen
symphonies; a deeply expressive yet
tautly designed and cohesive work.
Dmitri Mitropoulos,
gave the work its American premiere
with the New York Symphony Orchestra
in December 1954. In the same year he
recorded a fêted and evergreen
mono version with the same orchestra.
This is available on Sony MPK 45698.
The Sony coupling is a 1949 account
of the Ninth Symphony by Efrem Kurtz
again with the NYSO. Of the digital
versions I am most impressed with a
performance by the WDR Sinfonieorchester
under Rudolf Barshai available as part
of the complete fifteen symphonies at
super budget price on Brilliant Classics
6275 (slipcase version) and 6324 (wallet
version). [Incidentally no Shostakovich
lover looking for a set of the complete
Symphonies will be disappointed by Barshai’s
Brilliant Classics set.]
In the vast landscapes
of the brooding and wistful opening
movement Rostropovich and the LSO with
consummate skill and control allow the
music to build impressively. It develops
organically from quiet and slow into
the dark and menacing Moderato. The
movement’s climax, with its immense
intensity, reminds the listener of Shostakovich’s
debt to Mahler. The composer claimed
that the short, highly concentrated
but brutally energetic second movement
Allegro represented the malevolent
evil of Joseph Stalin. Maestro Rostropovich
superbly captures the savage violence
which was brilliantly described by Shostakovich
musicologist Robert Dearling as, "a
study in concentrated fury rarely equalled
in music". Rostropovich’s reading
is athletic and incisive in the menacing
and reflective third movement Allegretto.
The movement includes Shostakovich’s
renowned four note musical monogram
DSCH which is heard most clearly at
the very end of the third movement.
In the closing movement Andante -
Allegro, I love the way Rostropovich
and the LSO obtain uninhibited optimism
and maintain relentless momentum as
the Symphony sprints towards its exciting
conclusion.
Really fine sound quality
with concise and informative annotation.
Rostropovich is an empathic Shostakovich
interpreter. This recording will make
you sit up and listen. Highly recommended!
Michael Cookson
London Symphony Orchestra/Mstislav Rostropovich
