Haitink/CSO/Resound Shostakovich 4th CD+DVD soon to be released

[John Kim]

http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2755711

Shostakovich's towering masterpiece, Symphony No. 4 conducted by Bernard Haitink and played by CSO will be released soon.

John,

[barry guerrero]

John,

I have an advance copy of this already, and it truly fits the Haitink/CSO partnership far better than their previous Mahler outings did. Predictably, tempi are on the slow side. But this helps to bring out the sense of alienation and desolation; core elements of this amazing work. Also predictably, the Chicago brass section have a field day at major climactic moments; especially at the coda to the finale. This recording very much does for the 4th symphony what Bernstein/CSO did for the 7th. I like this much, MUCH better than their M3 and M6 recordings. The DVD is also quite interesting.

Barry

[Polarius T]

Have you guys listened to Myung-Whun Chung's recording of this? I'm curious what a good Messiaen conductor could discover in this music.



And at least Philly would have the credentials.

-PT

[John Kim]

Barry,

Thanks for the recommendation  .

I will be the first on the line to get the CD next week!

I consider this a major and possibly the greatest symphony by him, a work full of alienation, desolation, and yes, irony. In between, there are explosive, bombastic moments, typical of Shostakovich, but somehow all these elements are synthesized to a derivative but cohesive whole. The sound world that he creates in this music is quite unique not just in the history of symphonic music but also in his own music. The last few minutes following the march-like tutti may be the most poignant I ever heard.

Speaking of Chung/Philly/DG recording, it is one of my top favorites. The tempi are on fast side and Chung elicits stunning playing and sound from the Philadelphia Orch. The recording sound is probably the most impressive aspect of this CD - full, vibrant, and with terrific bass which is rare for DG engineering. Highest recommendation.

Two other recordings I'd die for are Slatkin/SSO/RCA (OOP) and Previn/CSO/EMI.

John,

[John Kim]

Barry,

What does the DVD contain? The entire live concert?

My dream is to attend a concert of the symphony by CSO or BPO....

John,

[chris]

By chance - during the Beyond the Score talk that was recorded, does a pro-Stalinist member of the audience start a ruckus?    I know this happened during the one presentation they did with an audience.   I assumed they'd edit it out, but that would be quite unique.

Interestingly, when I saw this program performed (not the Beyond the Score but one of the concerts in the series the CD was recorded) an audience member in the lower balcony ($100+ seats) was arrested and taken out in handcuffs during intermission....no idea what that was about.

John,

I have an advance copy of this already, and it truly fits the Haitink/CSO partnership far better than their previous Mahler outings did. Predictably, tempi are on the slow side. But this helps to bring out the sense of alienation and desolation; core elements of this amazing work. Also predictably, the Chicago brass section have a field day at major climactic moments; especially at the coda to the finale. This recording very much does for the 4th symphony what Bernstein/CSO did for the 7th. I like this much, MUCH better than their M3 and M6 recordings. The DVD is also quite interesting.

Barry

[Polarius T]

Speaking of Chung/Philly/DG recording, it is one of my top favorites. The tempi are on fast side and Chung elicits stunning playing and sound from the Philadelphia Orch. The recording sound is probably the most impressive aspect of this CD - full, vibrant, and with terrific bass which is rare for DG engineering. Highest recommendation.

Thanks, John; I almost missed this. I think I'll have to order this recording. Most curious about it and your recommendation leaves no more room for doubt. Chung is quite an interesting conductor (and a fine musician -- he's no amateur on the piano, either). And I appreciate the broader role he is trying to fulfill as an artist (like Abbado, he thinks there is value in working with young people, for instance [Dave H might mind  ]).

-PT

[barry guerrero]

I have heard the Chung recording, and I was somewhat disappointed by it. For Philly, I really liked the old Ormandy one better. Previn also recorded a very good one with the CSO back in the middle '70s. It's certainly was more up-to-tempo than this new Haitink one. But as I said earlier, Haitink underlines the elements of alienation and desolation. As a package, this is quite interesting.

As for the dvd, John, it's basically a scripted lecture/demo. There's a narrative that's basically biographical (Shostakovich), and focuses in on the relationship between Shosty and Stalin. The narrative will frequently stop, and the orchestra will play an excerpt from the symphony. At the same time, film footage is projected on to a screen. Predictably, the footage shows a lot of factory scenes and hard physical labor. There's plenty of footage of Stalin too.

And yes, the disruption was definitely edited out of the dvd. There are no interruptions of any sort.

[Polarius T]

I have heard the Chung recording, and I was somewhat disappointed by it.

What disappointed you in it, Barry? Just curious before I pull the trigger. One thing that's important for me in Shosty is the sound quality and in that regard, too, it seems like the Chung recording might claim a place on top of the A list.

-PT

[barry guerrero]

I certainly wouldn't say that Chung's was bad. It's just that with Philly, the old Ormandy actually made a stronger impression with me. Chung's S4 struck me as somewhat fast and loud, but with an acoustic that sort of blurred short notes. Remember, this was recorded before Verizon Hall got finished. It just didn't sound mechanical enough for me, especially the entire opening passage (which very much should sound like inhuman machinery). It just seemed to me that it needed to be better shaped and better organized. It reminded me a bit of Jarvi's, which I also don't feel is one of his best efforts in Shostakovich either. I have to say, outside of Messiaen, Chung has yet to really knock my socks off.

Barry

[Polarius T]

Thanks, Barry; I agree he's maybe not one to really knock anyone's socks off, but I'm curious to hear his Shosty. All I keep hearing about its sound is that it's remarkable, by the way.

But in the meantime my sense of urgency abated a little as I suddenly realized I don't even own the Masur/NYPO S13... with none other on it than Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko himself! Now that's got to be a priority no matter how you look at it. (I didn't realize YeYe actually reads his own text on the recording as well, and so had somehow let it pass by till now, I'm sad to say.)

I once drank a bottle (or two) of cheap red wine with Yevtushenko in New York after one of his college recitals there, exchanging compliments and talking art and a little bit bullshit too. He's the greatest live performer I know, all fields included. The charisma that previously knew no limits was already fading a bit by then, perhaps, but that roaring, bellowing, and whispering as only he can do it was clearly a medium of something bigger still (and he is a big guy, big as they come must if it's Siberia they're in). Not long ago he filled stadiums with over 30,000 people hearing him just speak alone, and it wasn't all owing to the dare-the-devil attitude he showed vis-a-vis the authorities. How many do the biggest concert halls around take, again?

Anyway, all Shostakovich fans should have the Masur/NYPO recording for this reason alone. You need to have poetry read in Russian among the essential items in your library.



-PT

[Dave H]

It's a very good performance, one of the best things Masur did in NY.

Dave H

[John Kim]

John,

I have an advance copy of this already, and it truly fits the Haitink/CSO partnership far better than their previous Mahler outings did. Predictably, tempi are on the slow side. But this helps to bring out the sense of alienation and desolation; core elements of this amazing work. Also predictably, the Chicago brass section have a field day at major climactic moments; especially at the coda to the finale. This recording very much does for the 4th symphony what Bernstein/CSO did for the 7th. I like this much, MUCH better than their M3 and M6 recordings. The DVD is also quite interesting.

Barry

Barry,

I finally got around this new release.

Like you said, I like every bit of this recording. It is slow clocking at 70 min., but it brings out really well a kind of cogency and symphonic argument that this music may need (it's not a problem for me  ). Haitink makes a true symphony unfolding the vast three movements in a most natural way I can imagine. The playing is brilliant, especially the Chicago brass. The recording sound is pretty good too, if a bit lacking depth.

A strong recommendation.

John,

[barry guerrero]

Well, see, I totally disagree;  I mean, I like this performance, and I like the slow tempi, but for totally different reasons. I think that the unusually slow tempi make it very un-symphonic; non-cogent, and un-musical. But that's the whole point - the symphony should be very mechanical, alien, inhuman, desolate, etc. I think it works for those reasons. It shouldn't sound like music - it should sound like Stalin killing off half of his own population, and everybody who lives there is too scared to even say hello to their neighbors. That's not an exaggeration - that's really what happened!

Barry

[John Kim]

Barry,

I see your point. Still, I think Haitink succeeded in brining out the internal logic - if there is any in this music - more cogently than any other conductor I know has done, by slowing down the tempo and carefully relating different sections at appropriate tempos. The joyful episode right before the final outburst is such an example. Here, the slow tempo makes the music unfold more logically without becoming too fussy, which would have rendered the section out of place.

Overall, this new release will not erase my fond memory of Slatikin/SSO/RCA or Ormandy/Philly/Sony, but it still is a formidable contender.

John,