In December 2010 I
interviewed
Vasily Petrenko, the chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra. He was clearly excited about his Naxos cycle of Shostakovich
symphonies. I asked him which of the Shostakovich symphonies he particularly
liked and his reply was, “
Well I would say that in all of them
I see a progression even though we don’t record them in date order.
With all of them we can follow the history of his biography and the
history of Russia in the twentieth century because they are all closely
related to the events of the years that they were written. They are
evocative of the events of the political and cultural life of the time
in Russia.”
Probably none of the set of fifteen symphonies better reflects the time
and events in which it was written than the monumental
Symphony No.
7, widely known as the
Leningrad. Composed in 1939/40 it
quickly became one of the composer’s best known works. Originally
Shostakovich had Lenin in mind as a dedicatee but decided it should
be dedicated to the city of Leningrad where the majority of it was written.
Although controversies have long raged about its true meaning it is
not difficult to imagine how the score might reflect the strength and
courage of the Soviet citizens; in particular the heroic resistance
of the inhabitants of the city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) that
came under siege by Hitler’s invading troops. During this time
Shostakovich wasn’t able to able to enlist in the Soviet army
owing to defective eyesight. Volunteering as an auxiliary fireman his
duties allowed him the time to work on the symphony before he was officially
ordered to evacuate to the Russian city of Kuibyshev. Here the world
première of the score was given in March 1942 by the Bolshoi
Theatre Orchestra under the conductor Samuil Samosud.
Smelling a propaganda coup to promote the
Leningrad Symphony
as a symbol of the bravery, defiance and fortitude of the Soviet armed
forces and people the Allies were anxious to perform the score outside
Russia as quickly as possible. A microfilm of the complete score was
smuggled out of Leningrad via Teheran and Cairo. Consequently the North
American première took place in New York in July 1942 by the
NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini, a performance that was
broadcast nationwide on radio. It has been claimed that as many as 20
million people heard the broadcast of the symphony live.
In
Testimony by Solomon Volkov (the disputed book of Shostakovich’s
memoirs) it was stated that the score did not so much reflect Shostakovich’s
abhorrence of Nazi Germany but of Stalin’s Soviet Government,
where the composer is reported to have said, “
Actually I have
nothing against calling the Seventh ‘The Leningrad’, but
it’s not about Leningrad under siege. It’s about the Leningrad
that Stalin destroyed and that Hitler merely finished off.”
Whatever the reason behind the
Leningrad it certainly is a powerful
work with an effect that I believe can be enhanced by having a broad
acquaintance of the dynamics of the time in which it was written.
In this compelling performance Petrenko, who was born in Saint Petersburg,
is clearly a committed advocate of the score demonstrating that he has
the full measure of the scale of Shostakovich’s writing. The full-bodied
sound from the Liverpool Phil is highly effective and the wide dynamics
and vivid climaxes are wonderfully controlled. According to
Testimony
Shostakovich originally gave the titles to each movement; he was later
to withdraw them. The immense and infamous opening movement was, it
seems, originally entitled ‘War’ and I find it hard to imagine
anything else that the music might represent. At 6:48-24:41 the music
evokes the expressive, threatening power of impending war,
Bolero-style,
before breaking out into the full ferocity and savagery of the invasion.
In the swirling
Adagio I was highly satisfied with the degree
of concentration that Petrenko draws from his players. A poignant sense
of hopelessness is revealed in an interpretation where it is easy to
imagine a bleak and inhospitable Siberian landscape. In the final movement
Petrenko from around 13:00 allows the music gradually to gather in weight
and intensity, becoming louder, sustaining a profound seriousness. This
culminates in a drama of electric intensity.
Petrenko is in his element with Shostakovich’s
Leningrad,
directing a stunning performance from the Liverpool Phil which is in
inspired form from first note to last. Recorded in the Philharmonic
Hall, Liverpool the sound feels remarkably fresh and the balance is
impressive too.
Michael Cookson
See also review by
John
Whitmore
Masterwork Index:
Shostakovich
Symphony 7
