SHOSTAKOVICH: Festive Overture,
Piano Concerto 2, Symphony
5
Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Andrew
Litton (piano)
DELOS DE 3246 [73'
59"]
The CD plays in the order above, making a satisfying Shostakovich concert
- the lively Festive (Festival) Overture, the witty, tuneful Concerto, and
the ambiguous Symphony. Unfortunately these Dallas performances do not challenge
the best, and the recording quality disappoints.
The music-making itself is well-prepared and conscientious (the Dallas Symphony
is an excellent ensemble) and while there is little to criticise about the
playing or the corporate endeavour, there is a distinct lack of character
and inner motivation. The Overture is a tad cautious. While I'm not looking
for the brazen brass and hundred-metre sprint of Svetlanov, I do not hear
the tip-toe sparkle this music needs (and was given four decades ago by Georges
Pretre and the Philharmonia for EMI. I remain hopeful that this and Pretre's
superb Shostakovich 12 might appear on Testament).
Litton is an attractive guide through the charms of the Concerto. The woodwind
solos are perky and personable; the soulful second movement informed by warm
string tone worthy of Tchaikovsky. But Litton keeps a tight rein on the outer
movements (because he's also conducting?) and this relentlessness yields
to the greater variety of Rudy/Jansons (EMI, with Shostakovich's greatest
Symphony, the 15th) and Bronfman/Salonen (Sony, with the other Piano Concerto
and a particularly fine account of the Piano Quintet). Yet Leonard Bernstein
is also conducting on his inimitable recording (Sony again) but this doesn't
restrict him leading a rendition of brio and pertinence that remains, for
me, the yardstick.
I should now mention the recording quality. It's a plush sound that for me
is too reverberant. The engineering is no doubt of the highest order and
the orchestra (if somewhat recessed for my taste) certainly sits in a
recognisable perspective. So the problem is the venue itself, Dallas's McDermott
Hall. The more sound produced so the wash of reverberance increases and
instrumental details are swallowed. The bass line is not clear enough and
is sometimes reduced to a mush of sound; the treble lacks brilliance. The
side-drum at 9' 22" in (I) is barely audible at first then suddenly gets
louder (help from the control room?); at 1' 40" in (II) the first two of
the horn's six notes are unclear as they fight the acoustic's fog. McDermott
Hall appears to be a big space, one allowing thrilling amplitude of sound
- but this listener is frustrated because he's just as interested in the
ingredients of the cake as the cake itself. Ultimately, the hall, as recorded,
gets in the way of the music, softens its edges and muffles textures, but
enhances a big, colourful spectacle if that's what you want.
Litton's conducting of the 5th Symphony is unexceptional - straightforward,
sensitive certainly, but too circumspect. His occasional straying from the
straight-and-narrow - the ritenuto at 5' 10" in the first movement and the
staggered accelerando across the opening measures of the finale - stand out
because these interventions are the exception rather than the rule.
The recorded world of Shostakovich 5 includes the composer's son Maxim (his
first recording, my all-time favourite of this music on BMG/Melodiya), Artur
Rodzinski's two, Bernstein's pair, Kurt Sanderling's, several from Mravinsky,
Yuri Ahronovich's interesting version on BIS and Mark Wigglesworth's subjective
account (also BIS). Andrew Litton, for all that he does little wrong, simply
cannot compete. Andrew Litton plays Shostakovich 5 for you. That might be
enough.
Reviewer
Colin Anderson
Performance
Recording
