Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 4 [59:40]
Symphony No. 5 [44:51]
Symphony No. 6 [30:24]
Mariinsky Orchestra/Valery Gergiev
rec. Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, Russia, June 2012 (No. 5), June 2013 (Nos. 4 and 6)
MARIINSKY SACD MAR0545 [59:40 + 75:26]
This is the first instalment of Gergiev’s Shostakovich cycle to
have come my way. The previous issues have had mixed reviews. I didn’t
love everything on this set but there is a lot to enjoy. Arguably, the
Mariinsky are the most westernised of the great Russian orchestras. Their
playing brings out the best of both worlds: raw, Slavic intensity vs western
refinement. So it mostly proves here; but the finest contribution of all
comes from their stunning strings. I’ve praised them in these pages
before in Wagner
and Tchaikovsky,
and they take to Shostakovich as if on their home territory — which,
really, they are. It is their contribution, more than any other, that
makes this set worth hearing and, in fact, makes me want to seek out other
instalments of the cycle.
It is No. 4 that gets the most convincing performance overall. The brash,
braying sounds of the opening are very successful, but I found the waltz
section of the first movement — about 8 minutes in — very
convincing too. A characterful bassoon and pleading strings worked very
well. The violin playing for the fugue (15 mins) is astounding: precise
and well articulated but always teetering just on the verge of entropy.
The great slabs of sound that bring this section to an end sound truly
epic in Gergiev's hands. The strings are just as impressive in
a quieter, more insidious, silky way in the fugue of the Scherzo. They
can't prevent the finale from sounding episodic — it's
kind of inevitable — but they ensure that each episode sounds great.
The brass-led final chorale treads a fine line between triumph and catastrophe,
and the strings' final, whispered wind-down is quite spellbinding.
The recorded sound is excellent, too, as it is for the whole release.
I was listening in two-channel stereo only. It must be even better in
surround.
Those strings are also full of presence for the opening of No. 5, with
rich, soulful basses and quietly passionate violins, who meander off into
the main theme with gentleness and quietly suppressed longing. When the
piano ostinato begins (around the 7 minute mark) there is an ominous colour
to the horns' treatment of the main theme. The ensuing Allegro
non troppo section is played very colourfully, though I might have
wished that Gergiev had let his players off the leash somewhat. Likewise,
the climax at 10:31 might stand out a little more and the ensuing unison
passage could have more passion. That said, the trombones' subsequent
statement of the introductory theme sounds pleasingly dark. This is then
dispelled by a beautifully innocent duet for the flute and horn. Gergiev
is on more playful form for the Scherzo, which has a pleasing sense of
cocking a snook, while still staying just within the boundaries of the
rules. Those strings also take centre-stage in a dark, soulful reading
of the Largo, whose brilliant recording helps to underline the
intensity, bordering on despair. The finale sets off at a real lick, a
pace which is thrilling but which they find difficult to sustain. When
things slow down (around 3:25) the emotional intensity heightens too –
and does so successfully – and the long transition to the final
D major apotheosis is well controlled, spilling over into appropriately
ambiguous peroration and thunderous final bars.
No. 6 opens with a great, long sigh that seems to set the tone of despondency
for the whole movement. The bleak wind chorale (around 7 minutes in) makes
some alteration of tone but the mood then settles into one of abject bleakness
for the whole central section, almost like gazing out over a nuclear wasteland.
Only the occasional wind solos break the endless string tremolos. That
barely lets up for the rest of the movement. It's a daring compositional
strategy, well realised, and the shrill clarinets of the scherzo's
opening burst on the ear with even greater surprise. The orchestra seems
to relish this movement's to-and-fro contrast with the stasis of
the previous movement, be it the bedlam
of the central section or the zany return to the opening music. Gergiev
plays the finale like a slightly out-of-control clockwork toy, and the
coda, in particular, made me think of a hyperactive children's
TV show. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I liked it,
and it certainly made the reading distinctive.
Even if No. 4 is the best, that doesn’t rule out 5 and 6, which
are more than worthwhile. Those Mariinsky strings definitely mean that
this set is worth exploring.
Simon Thompson
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