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Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 - 1975) Ballet Suites (edited by Lev Atovmyan): No.1 (1950); No.2 (1951); No.3 (1952); No.4 (1953) Dmitri Yablonsky (cello) Oleg Tokathev (trumpet) Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Dmitri Yablonsky Recorded in KULTURA Studio 5, Moscow, 1 June 2003 NAXOS 8.557208 [60.07]

The Ballet Suites were all arranged from Shostakovich’s stage, film and ballet works and were edited for publication in 1949 by Lev Atovmyan. Interestingly they were originally intended for radio broadcast. The suites derive from works such as The Limpid Stream, The Bolt, The Human Comedy and the Suite for Jazz Orchestra No.1 and in fact the third Ballet Suite divides equally between just two - The Human Comedy and The Limpid Stream. Infectiously entertaining and lighthearted they receive committed and colourful performances from Yablonsky and his forces, now well established on disc as authoritative interpreters of this kind of repertoire. The winds bear a weight in such as the Polka (from The Limpid Stream) of the First but show their quasi-satiric teeth nicely whilst the portentous Adagio of the Second with its reserved cello solo (Yablonsky again it seems) scores highly. Trumpeter Tokathev is on top form for the Sentimental Romance (from The tale of a priest and His Servant Balda) that sits at the near heart of the second suite. Fortunately Yablonsky and his band don’t overplay things - such as the Dance of the Third Suite or the light-but-lovely Waltz; rather beautiful, this. Whether in waltz or gallop Shostakovich proves consistently full of verve and these performances, warmly recorded, are splendid ones. Jonathan Woolf see also review by Paul Shoemaker   Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD   New Releases Nimbus Podcast Obtain 10% discount Special offer 50% off Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable (THE Polish label) Altus 10% off Atoll 10% off CRD 10% off Hallé 10% off Lyrita 10% off Nimbus 10% off Nimbus Alliance Prima voce 10% off Red Priest 10% off Retrospective 10% off Saydisc 10% off Sterling 10% off Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly review listing sample Sample: See what you will get Editorial Board MusicWeb International Founding Editor    Rob Barnett Senior Editor John Quinn Seen & Heard Editor Emeritus    Bill Kenny Editor in Chief    Vacant MusicWeb Webmaster    David Barker MusicWeb Founder    Len Mullenger

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