When Decca first issued Bernard Haitink's Shostakovich symphony cycle between 1977 and 1984, it was the first non-Soviet cycle of the works. When the cycle was re-released as a set in 2006, it was still only the third non-Soviet cycle -- Eliahu Inbal had completed a perfunctory cycle for Denon and Ladislav Slovak a lackluster cycle for Naxos in the meantime -- but it was nevertheless by far the finest. One had to make some allowances for the earlier performances of Symphonies No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 7, No. 9, No. 10, and No. 15 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Then a fairly characterful, reasonably polished, and relatively powerful ensemble, the LPO wasn't quite up to strenuous demands of the scores -- the First is irony deficient and the Seventh runs out of steam midway through the third movement. All such doubts disappear when the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam takes over the Symphonies No. 5, No. 6, No. 8, No. 11, No. 12, No. 13, and No. 14. Then, now, and always one of the great European orchestras, the Concertgebouw was up for anything in the scores -- the central Largo from the Fifth is unbearable in its intensity and the opening Adagio from the Thirteenth is overwhelming in its ferocity.
But what made this the finest non-Soviet cycle was Haitink's leadership. To the inevitable question "Can a non-Soviet citizen comprehend the art of a Soviet symphonist?," the not altogether unexpected answer is "Yes, but not as a Soviet citizen would comprehend it." For the great Soviet conductors -- Kondrashin, Rozhdestvensky, and, pre-eminently, Mravinsky -- Shostakovich's symphonies are the history of their times transformed into art. For Haitink, Shostakovich's symphonies are art transforming the story of one man's life. In Haitink's interpretations, the symphonies are supremely well-wrought works of musical modernism, which, somewhat like Mahler's symphonies, are chapters in a sublimated musical autobiography. In effect, this means a less intrusive interpretive style that stresses the musical over the extra-musical. Thus, while Soviet conductors tend to take Shostakovich's symphonies very personally, Haitink takes them much more objectively. In practice, Haitink's performances are often as musically impressive as the best Soviet performances, but less emotionally harrowing. Coupled with the orchestral versions of the sensual Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva and the anguished From Jewish Folk Poetry, this set will be of interest to anyone who loves Shostakovich's symphonies and already knows the great Soviet performances of the works.
Decca's sound is variable. The late stereo recordings with the LPO are big and full, but sometimes shallow. The early digital recordings with the Concertgebouw are huge and detailed, but sometimes harsh.
Track list:
CD1:
01. Symphony No.1, Op.10 – 1. Allegretto – Allegro non troppo 02. Symphony No.1, Op.10 – 2. Allegro 03. Symphony No.1, Op.10 – 3. Lento 04. Symphony No.1, Op.10 – 4. Lento – Allegro molto 05. Symphony No.3, Op.20 – "1st of May” – 1. Allegretto – Allegro 06. Symphony No.3, Op.20 – "1st of May” – 2. Andante 07. Symphony No.3, Op.20 – "1st of May” – 3. Allegro – Largo 08. Symphony No.3, Op.20 – "1st of May” – 4. Moderato: V pervoye Pervoye maya
CD2:
01. Symphony No.2 in B major, Op.14 – "To October” – 1. Largo – Allegro molto 02. Symphony No.2 in B major, Op.14 – "To October” – 2. "My shli, my prosili raboty i khleba” 03. Symphony No.10 in E minor, Op.93 – 1. Moderato 04. Symphony No.10 in E minor, Op.93 – 2. Allegro 05. Symphony No.10 in E minor, Op.93 – 3. Allegretto 06. Symphony No.10 in E minor, Op.93 – 4. Andante – Allegro
CD3:
01. Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op.43 – 1. Allegro poco moderato 02. Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op.43 – 2. Presto 03. Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op.43 – 3. Moderato con moto 04. Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op.43 – 4. Largo 05. Symphony No.4 in C minor, Op.43 – 5. Allegro
CD4:
01. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.47 – 1. Moderato 02. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.47 – 2. Allegretto 03. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.47 – 3. Largo 04. Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.47 – 4. Allegro non troppo 05. Symphony No.9 in E flat, Op.70 – 1. Allegro 06. Symphony No.9 in E flat, Op.70 – 2. Moderato 07. Symphony No.9 in E flat, Op.70 – 3. Presto 08. Symphony No.9 in E flat, Op.70 – 4. Largo 09. Symphony No.9 in E flat, Op.70 – 5. Allegretto
CD5:
01. Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.54 – 1. Largo 02. Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.54 – 2. Allegro 03. Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.54 – 3. Presto 04. Symphony No.12 in D minor, Op.112 "The Year 1917″ – 1. Revolutionary Petrograd (Moderato – Allegro – Più mosso – Allegro) 05. Symphony No.12 in D minor, Op.112 "The Year 1917″ – 2. Razliv (Allegro. L’istesso tempo – Adagio) 06. Symphony No.12 in D minor, Op.112 "The Year 1917″ – 3. Aurora (L’istesso tempo – Allegro) 07. Symphony No.12 in D minor, Op.112 "The Year 1917″ – 4. Dawn of Humanity (L’istesso tempo – Allegretto – Allegro – Moderato)
01. Symphony No.8 in C minor, Op.65 – 1. Adagio 02. Symphony No.8 in C minor, Op.65 – 2. Allegretto 03. Symphony No.8 in C minor, Op.65 – 3. Allegro non troppo 04. Symphony No.8 in C minor, Op.65 – 4. Largo 05. Symphony No.8 in C minor, Op.65 – 5. Allegretto
CD8:
01. Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op.103 "The Year of 1905″ – 1. The Palace Square (Adagio) 02. Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op.103 "The Year of 1905″ – 2. Ninth of January (Allegro – Adagio) 03. Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op.103 "The Year of 1905″ – 3. Eternal Memory (Adagio) 04. Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op.103 "The Year of 1905″ – 4. Alarm (Allegro non troppo – Adagio – Allegro)
01. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 1. De Profundis (Lorca) 02. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 2. Malagueña (Lorca) 03. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 3. Loreley (Brentano after Apollinaire) 04. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 4. Le suicidé (Apollinaire) 05. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 5. Les attentives I (Apollinaire) 06. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 6. Les attentives II (Apollinaire) 07. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 7. A la santé (Apollinaire) 08. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 8. Réponse des Cosaques Zaporogues au Sultan 09. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 9. O Delvig! (Küchelbecker) 10. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 10. Der Tod des Dichters (Rilke) 11. Symphony No.14, Op.135 – 11. Schluß-Stück (Rilke) 12. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 1. My poems 13. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 2. Where does this tenderness come from? 14. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 3. Hamlet’s dialogue with conscience 15. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 4. The Poet and the Tsar 16. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 5. No, the drum beat 17. Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op.143a – 6. To Anna Akhmatova
CD11:
01. Symphony No.15, Op.141 – 1. Allegretto 02. Symphony No.15, Op.141 – 2. Adagio – Largo – Adagio – Largo 03. Symphony No.15, Op.141 – 3. Allegretto 04. Symphony No.15, Op.141 – 4. Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio – Allegretto 05. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 1. Lament for a dead infant 06. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 2. Fussy Mummy and Auntie 07. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 3. Lullaby 08. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 4. Before a long separation 09. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 5. A warning 10. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 6. The deserted father 11. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 7. A song of poverty 12. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 8. Winter 13. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 9. The good life 14. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 10. A girl’s song 15. From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79 – 11. Happiness
# Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Marius Rintzler, Julia Varady, Elisabeth Söderström, Ryszard Karcykowski # Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra # Conductor: Bernard Haitink # Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
