Shostakovich: Symphony Nos. 5 & 9

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Leonard Bernstein's performances of Shostakovich were almost as highly regarded as his Mahler. This performance of the Fifth Symphony was the highlight of his celebrated tour of the Soviet Union with the New York Philharmonic in 1959. The composer himself attended the performances and approved of Bernstein's interpretation, which is the exact opposite of the traditional Russian one. Rather than take the finale ponderously, Bernstein flies through the music at a frantic pace, carrying it forward with irresistible momentum. The Ninth Symphony is the composer's lightest and most carefree. Bernstein walks the fine line between humor and seriousness with acrobatic skill. --David Hurwitz

Amazon.com essential recording

Leonard Bernstein's performances of Shostakovich were almost as highly regarded as his Mahler. This performance of the Fifth Symphony was the highlight of his celebrated tour of the Soviet Union with the New York Philharmonic in 1959. The composer himself attended the performances and approved of Bernstein's interpretation, which is the exact opposite of the traditional Russian one. Rather than take the finale ponderously, Bernstein flies through the music at a frantic pace, carrying it forward with irresistible momentum. The Ninth Symphony is the composer's lightest and most carefree. Bernstein walks the fine line between humor and seriousness with acrobatic skill. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Good in quality, typically unusual Bernstein style........2006-11-12

Shostakovich's music (especially the symhonies) is filled with wit and sarchasm, but this recording does not express these aspects. It takes just about all of the music at the kind of brisk pace more appropriate for period performances of pieces like Beethoven's earlier symphonies. One of the things strongly emphasized in this piece is the competition between the lower and higher pitches, and the dynamics of this performance are relatively flat and don't emphasize this. Also, I MUCH prefer the more modern ironic interpretation of the finale, wich is featured in Rostrapovich's recording, among others. Here, Bernstein seems to raise the tempo MUCH faster in the finale in order to force it to be a triumph that it simply is not. I highly recommend Rostropovich's recent recording of this work with the LSO.

Concerning tempos.......2006-04-18

Regarding tempos: yes, this Bernstein recording is famous for being rather quick. Though these ARE the tempos Shostakovitch has down in the score. Most people now take it much slower, and that way is considered 'correct.' FWIW.

an incorrect interpretation.......2006-01-19

The Shostakovich 5th is interpreted incorrectly. The tempos are always way too fast. Bernstein perhaps should have done more research before he conducted this Shostakovich. The ending is misleading. Because of the fast tempo, there lacks sorrow and pain. Buy the Rostropovich recording instead.

New York saves Bernstein .......2006-01-15

I am not here to dispute the great talent of the all-American musical hero Leonard Bernstein. A man far above the rest as far as skill and attention to detail is concerned but as for this recording there are many dissapointing aspects of the interpretation. The Ninth is done quite well. Although it does feel slightly bland and downright boring at times, I attribute this to my own personal preference. The orchestra performs superbly and Bernstein is in his element amongst this famed group of musicians. All in all, this is a solid recording of the Ninth.
It is the Fifth that completely turned me off to this recording. The interpretation was completely headstrong (a Bernstein-ian trait that is very well done in some works but goes way overboard in this Symphony) and at times careless. The tempos that Bernstein employs are much too fast and tend to waver slightly. For instance, the second movt. of the Fifth is a driving introduction introduced by low strings. At the outset, it is much too fast. As the theme is introduced a little later on, the speed is such that the orchestra cannot execute the passages cleanly and this creates a jumble of muddy orchestral sound not up to N.Y. Phil. standards. At the end of this passage, just before the entrance of the horns, there is an anticlimatic fall in the sound. As the bones and tuba have the descending line there is almost a decresendo in the sound rather than a building. This makes the entrance for horns sound quite out of place and overblown. The other movts. tend to fare slightly better, all except the last. While I do like the driving, intimidating tempo of the opening very much, there isn't much else musically that is appealing. The orchestra continues to play beautifully under the somewhat healed interpretation that Bernstein has gained since previous movts. But just when the music becomes its most enthralling, it seems that Lenny gets bored. The final chords of dissonance (the ones thought to represent the screams of Stalin's victims underneath a false hope and happiness) are bowled over. There is no feeling or passion invoked, just the notes on the page. Over all, I was quite dissapointed in the interpretation. The playing was good, if not up to the standards that are the Phil. For me, the orchestra was what shined in this recording, not Bernstein.
I'm not knocking Lenny. I have many amazing recordings of his other works that are beautiful and full of soul and passion. This one lacks in that respect. If you are looking for a wonderful interpretation of the Fifth, pick up LSO's live recording with Rostropovich. Amazing and right on the money, in my opinion.

A moment in history, but not as riveting as before.......2005-11-12

From the mid-Fifties to the mid-Sixties Leonard Bernstein had a complete grip on any "young people"--he didn't call us kids--who wanted to fall in love with classical music. It's hard to turn your back on the influence that shaped your taste, and this Shostakovich 5th was for an entire geneeration the very first time they had heard the work, or any Shostakovich symphony.

The detractors here are right in some respects. The sound, though detailed, is thin and noticeably shrill in the upper strings at forte or louder (they should have heard it before Sony's remastering). There is no muddiness in the bass, however. Bernstein doesn't see this as a savagely ironic or menacing work. But he still conceives a full specturm of emotions: The first movement is lyrical and reflective before the sudden intrusion of a powerful but not threatening march. The Scherzo is paced at medium speed and crisply played but again without satire or menace--LB was almost always positive in this phase of his career, the "Joy of Music" phase.

The Largo is tender, almost dreamy, taken broadly but without a hint of inward grief or respite from the preceding eruptions as some conductors play it. The finale, the touchstone of this performance, is exuberantly fast and triumphant. It comes off as a fitting conclusion--the only possible conclusion--to Bernstein's whole approach. He had no intention of using the Shostakovich 5th as a jab against the Soviet regime, and there's a good chance that the composer didn't, either. This was the work, after all, that he presented to regain favor with Stalin and his apparatchiks.

I must admit that I've gorwn to admire more intensely expressed performances that cover the political ground with a range of bitter, sorrowing, and satiric emotions. Bernstein's vision seems more limited, the piece less significant in his hands. But this was a moment that I can't quite shake.

Fantasia 2000: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack

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Great for kids with Autism!
Fantasia 2000
Great pieces of classical music!
Fantastic!
One song along would make this worth buying

Fantasia 2000: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack

Manufacturer: Disney
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Walt Disney's Fantasia: Remastered Original Soundtrack Edition
Fantasia 2000
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Atlantis: The Lost Empire

ASIN: B000038ICW
Release Date: 1999-11-30

Tracks:

Symphony No.5
Pines Of Rome
Rhapsody In Blue
Piano Concerto No.2, Allegro
Carnival Of The Animals
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Pomp And Circumstance Marches
Firebird Suite-1919 Version

Amazon.com

Without the gorgeous visuals, the soundtrack to Fantasia/2000 is nothing more than a collection of some of classical music's greatest moments. But what moments they are! Conductor James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra provide new (though hardly groundbreaking) arrangements for these classical music warhorses. Piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman joins in to record the Allegro section of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 (if you like this track, check out Bronfman playing the entire piece on his 1999 disc with the Los Angeles Philharmonic), and soprano Kathleen Battle lends a high note to the climax of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. We also get the classic Sorcerer's Apprentice from the original (and now out-of-print) Fantasia soundtrack. Performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, the Paul Dukas composition still steals the show. The original movie may have been a flop, but with any luck Fantasia/2000 will turn some young minds on to classical music, especially with such inspired choices as Respighi's Pines of Rome. Like what you hear? Remember, these are just excerpts and you really owe it to yourself to hear the works in their entirety--slow movements and all. That said, whether you're a Disney fan, an IMAX aficionado, or just a classical-lover-to-be, you can't go wrong with this disc. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Great for kids with Autism!.......2007-04-10

As a parent of profoundly autistic twin boys, this CD is so calming and I never tire of listening to it in the car. This CD on their Walkman helps get them through loud basketball games or sensory overload events at school. They LOVE "Rhapsody in Blue!"

Fantasia 2000.......2006-12-30

I have most of these pieces on other CD's, and I mostly got this one for 'Rhapsody in Blue'. If you don't own 'Firebird' and don't feel like owning the entire thing, then get this--it's got the highlights. Overall the selection is varied. You have probably forgotten that 'Pomp and Circumstance' is a real piece, and not just a graduation death march--this CD will remind you, with its very wise summary of the very extensive five marches by Elgar. This is certainly a lot more interesting than most classical highlights CD's.

Great pieces of classical music!.......2005-11-16

This is a really lovely collection of exhilarating and intriguing music pieces. Fantasia helped spawn my interest in classical music. The animation is beautiful in the movie but it's the music which makes it happen.

Fantastic! .......2005-07-18

My favorite piece of music ever is "Rhapsody in Blue" and I've managed to collect quite a few versions of it over the years. This is the absolute best recording of "Rhapsody in Blue" I have ever heard! I'm listening to it on a constant loop tonight. The entire record is great as is the other soundtrack from "Fantasia." The movie is a wonderful way to get kids exposed to classical music without them even realizing it! Worked on me when I was a kid. Once again, the Mouse works his magic!

One song along would make this worth buying.......2004-11-21

In my opinion, this CD is worth it just for "Rhapsody in Blue," but there are seven other great tracks, as well. Music like this spans generations; it's essentially timeless in its beauty and ability to put a smile on your face. Great stuff. Yes, there may only be eight tracks on this disc, but four of them are nine minutes or longer, so you're not being cheated out of anything. I'm not a steadfast Disney fan, but they really know how to pick classical music for their masterpiece.

The Essential Hyperion (Label Highlight Compilation)

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A MUST BUY!!!
Great music, Excellent Value!
This truly is essential!

The Essential Hyperion (Label Highlight Compilation)
Henry Purcell , Charles Villiers Stanford , Sheppard, John , Haydn, Joseph , Satie, Erik , Schumann, Robert , and Shostakovich, Dmitri
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Essential Hyperion, Vol. 2
Glass Harmonica
Mendelssohn: Piano Trios Op. 49 & Op. 66
Essential Purcell

ASIN: B000002ZDX
Release Date: 1995-02-13

Tracks:

Concerto For Two Trumpets, 1687: Allegro
Abdelazer: Rondeau
Who Can From Joy Refrain?: A Prince Of Glorious Race
The Morning: The Glitt'ring Sun
The Ephesian Matron, Or The Widow's Tears: Vaudeville
Magnificat In G
Libera Nos
Cantigas de amigo: My Love's Coming Home
My Lady, You Do Great Wrong
Locus iste
Symphony No 14 In A: Tempo di Minuetto
Symphony No 94 In G (The 'Surprise' Symphony): Finale
Gymnopedie No. 1: Gymnopedie No. 1 (Orchestrated By Debussy)
Liederkreis op. 39: Waldesgesprach
Album Leaf In Waltz Form
Prelude And Fugue In A, Op. 87, No. 7
Phil The Fluter's Ball
Piano Concerto In C Sharp Minor, Op. 30: Allegro
O salutaris hostia
Da quel sembiante, D. 688, No. 3
Sonata In G Minor, Op. 5, No. 5: Vivace
Clarinet Quartet No 1 In E Flat, Op. 2: Rondo
String Sextet In A, Op. 48: Furiant
Sherzo In A minor, Op. 81, No. 2
Come You, Mary, Op. 21, No. 2
Chorale Prelude 'Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g' mein'
Deus in adiutorium
Sortie In E Flat

Customer Reviews:

A MUST BUY!!!.......2001-03-03

If I had to choose one CD to spend a month locked in isolation with, this would be the one. Its varied but it flows well together. It's restive and soothing. The quality is beyond excellent!!! At the price, anyone is a fool not to own it, and give it lavishly as gifts. Its gorgeous, lush and fabulous! Everyone that hears it in our home, falls in love with it!

Great music, Excellent Value!.......2000-07-26

Rarely can one buy so much good music for so little. This compilation features almost 80 minutes of high quality music.

This truly is essential!.......1999-10-23

What a brilliant idea from one of our leading record companies! On this disc, they have assembled a programme of highlights from their vast collection of choral, vocal, orchestral, and solo instrumental music that is very satisfying. As with most CDs of this sort, it is a case of some tracks not appealing as much as others- I for instance am a lover of choral music so the gorgeous renditions of Stanford's "Magnificat" by St. Paul's Cathedral Choir or John Sheppard's divine motet "Libera Nos" by the Sixteen are obvious preferences of mine. However, whether you seek dyed-in-the-wool orchestral classics as Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony, less familiar works performed by period artists (such as "'E irei Madr'a Vigo" by ancient Spanish composer Martin Codax), or snippets of breathtaking instrumental solos (such as the rousing performance of Lefebure-Wely's "Sortie in E flat" which is sadly only an excerpt), this disc is bound to have something on it for you. And all of it is finely recorded.

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9 [Hybrid SACD]

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Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9 [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Pentatone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Brahms: Violin Concerto and Double Concerto [SA-CD - CD compatible]
Mahler: Symphony No. 1; Blumine [Hybrid SACD]
Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3; Poulenc: Organ Concerto; Barber: Toccata Festiva
Schubert: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B000MRP1ZU
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Average customer rating:

Even better on Hybrid SACD
Excellent recording. Brisk, refreshing interpretation.

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9 [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Shostakovich - Symphony 7 "Leningrad" / Gergiev (Multichannel Hybrid SACD)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 [Hybrid SACD]
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD]
Shostakovich: Piano Works [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B00020WZGA
Release Date: 2004-06-15

Customer Reviews:

Even better on Hybrid SACD.......2006-05-26

The symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich are in the body and heart of conductor Valery Gergiev. Put him on the podium before his Kirov Orchestra and the results are richly textured, tense, exciting, and satisfying performances. This album, which aptly pairs the Fifth and the Ninth Symphonies, is all the more vital in that it is recorded during live performances. The acoustics are grand and spacious and the arching lines and quirky diversions inherent in Shostakovich's work are refined and at the same time 'raw', in the best sense of the word. In the Fifth, Gergiev surprises with a few personal inflections in his timings and phrasings and makes the first movement especially fresh. Few conductors can serve these quintessential Russian symphonies better than Gergiev. And the Hybrid SACD version provides even more depth, richer sound. Keep the whole cycle coming! Grady Harp, May 06

Excellent recording. Brisk, refreshing interpretation........2004-06-27

I have greatly enjoyed this SACD. Both symphonies are well-recorded. Gergiev extracts strong performances from the brass, strings, and woodwinds . . . Quite a musical hat trick. In particuarly, I am fond of the performance of the 5th very compelling. The conductor takes a brisk tempo that lifts the movement up from the maudlin, plodding pace that many conductors including Benrstein take. Overall, there's a refreshing crispness to this interpretation.

The sound is full and gives decent perspective of the orchestra without being over-miked. Dynamic contrasts are very large. Soundstaging is expansive. I really think that performing these symphonies live has really focussed the conductor and the orchestra. Basically, this recording is a good orchestral presentation on hybrid SACD.

In sum, a much better recording than the "classic" Bernstein one. On that disc, you can hear how multiple sessions have been spliced into a Frankenstein's monster of recording. This disc could be standard to which the performance of all future performances of the 5th and 9th will be held.

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
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"Equisite Connoiseurship, Nos. 5

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6

Manufacturer: Arts Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
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Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 9 & 10

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 "The Year 1905" [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B00009LW4Z
Release Date: 2004-01-27

Customer Reviews:

"Equisite Connoiseurship, Nos. 5 .......2006-09-02

This is a fine recording of two of the finest symphonies composed in the 20th century by the last symphonist of the planet's extinct species. Symphony No. 5 (1937)is a busily melodic standard concert hall favorite, so brilliantly cinamagraphic and appealing/terrifying in imagages of Stalin's long wintery reign of terror and nationalistic bluster in the chilly, old and awful Soviet Union. Musicians in any orchestra under almost any conductor always rise to their best with Shostakovich's carnival orchestrations, as with Mahler's symphonies, and it certainly happens in this Arts CD single, recorded live with excited applause with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, a theatrically and melodically apt moniker for a band well trained in piccolo/strings brilliance,crisp waltzes, village band over- exuberance and deep, yearning melancholy. The direction of Russian-trained Oleg Caetani goes for the big sweep and detailed attention to the various orchestra section effects, one supposes just the composer's humor.
And this great symphony, which is immediately enjoyable, is coupled on this CD with the equally great but neglected Sixth Symphony (1939), both written to dupe his menacing critics in the Kremlin's Kulture Dark Ages ("We need People's Music, comrade, not yours!"). Hark! The critics loved it, so Shostakovich was spared the fate of writing gulag working songs in Siberia. "Clever" is always just the right word for Dimitri Shostakovich.
The two works are equally great and seem equally structured in vast introductory landscaped octaves, and Shostakovich, as obliging a chameleon as Stravinsky, absolutely rose to his peak in orchstral nostalgia and classical form. In my opinion,his inspiration thereafter to write more and more intellectually passionate symphonies too often failed him, like Mahler's after his great Fifth Symphony, I think,and the 10 or so that followed, including the much respected hyper-active Seventh, are but distracted echoes amid growing Soviet political convulsions.

Shostakovich himself once remarked that it was getting too hard to write an allegro movement (and so his finales fell too easily into the old Slavic trap of folkish clog dances, military noise and shadow boxing (with Rossini, Verdi and stage entertainers of a bygone age. But Prokofiev could behave that way,too.)
So by all means get this wonderful pairing of Shostakovich's best, because if you're after just the Fifth it generally comes packaged with his harsher products.

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Engineer's Choice
Bela Bartok , David Diamond , Ottorino Respighi , Falla, Manuel de , Ravel, Maurice , James DePreist , Schwarz, Gerard , Wagner, Roger , Shifrin, David , and Davidovich, Bella
Manufacturer: Delos Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Engineer's Choice II

ASIN: B00000071F
Release Date: 1992-05-22

Tracks:

Symphony No. 10: Scherzo
Gimpel The Fool: 'Jester's Song And Mazel Tov'
Through The Looking Glass: Looking-Glass Insects
Grand Canyon Suite: Sunset
Billy The Kid: Gun Battle
Symphony No.6: Movements III. And IV.
Piano Concerto: Adagio
Wassail Song
Fleurs
Menuetto
Symphony No. 51: Finale (Allegro)
Suite For Skip And Sadie: Good Morning
Piano Trio: Tema con Variazioni
Treestone: Tristopher Tristian
Prelude In G Minor
A Quaker Reader: Movements IV and VIII
Symphony No. 6: Scherzo (Leggerissimo vivace)
The Miraculous Mandarin: The Miraculous Mandarin (excerpts)
Symphony No. 2: Finale (Allegro vigoroso) (Excerpt)
Roman Festivals: Roman Festivals (excerpts)
Nights In The Gardens Of Spain (excerpts)
Daphnis And Chloe: Daphnis and Chloe (excerpt)

Ancerl Gold Edition 39: SHOSTAKOVICH Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5

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The Final Golden Ancerls

Ancerl Gold Edition 39: SHOSTAKOVICH Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5

Manufacturer: Supraphon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 ("Leningrad")
Shostakovich: Symphony 8
Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 3 & 8 [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B00079RNLI
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Customer Reviews:

The Final Golden Ancerls.......2006-01-07

Those familiar with my reviews on Amazon will know of my love for Supraphon's "Gold Edition" Karel Ancerl CDs. Well I recently picked up the final six volumes in this collection (vols 37-42) and I have to say they are as delightful as the first 36 sets. Volume 39 features Ancerl and the Czech PO performing Shostakovich's 1st & 5th Symphonies in stereo from 1964 & 1961 respectively. Ancerl was best known for the music of his native country, but he also shined in showcasing the works of 20th Century composers. These are arguably Shostakovich's most popular and accessible symphonies, and I certainly enjoy these as much as the other celebrated accounts I own. In all, this title is part of a fitting to conclusion to a great series and a great conductor.

Average customer rating:

Great music-making at bargain price!
Excellent value for money

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Symphony No.5 in D Minor, Op.47: Moderato
Symphony No.5 in D Minor, Op.47: Allegretto
Symphony No.5 in D Minor, Op.47: Largo
Symphony No.5 in D Minor, Op.47: Allegro non troppo
Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major, Op.70: Allegro
Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major, Op.70: Sym No.9 in E Flat, Op.70: Moderato
Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major, Op.70: Sym No.9 in E Flat, Op.70: Presto
Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major, Op.70: Sym No.9 in E Flat, Op.70: Largo
Symphony No.9 in E Flat Major, Op.70: Sym No.9 in E Flat, Op.70: Allegretto

Customer Reviews:

Great music-making at bargain price!.......2004-03-01

This disc was my first exposure to the Ninth, and I cannot say I have heard a more convincing rendition; now the Fifth is played here with gusto, but I have Rostropovich's recording from 1994 that outshines almost any for overall interpretation and sound engineering. One cannot go wrong with this Rahbari CD though.

If you're somewhat new to Shostakovich, get nice recordings of symphonies 4&10, such as Eugene Ormandy on Sony, and a couple chamber music CDs. The Complete Trios & Sonatas on Arabeque is great but might be unavailable; still, Naxos has some other nice Shostakovich recordings, including the Complete String Quartets.

This Ninth is outstanding, and who minds having several versions of the Fifth? I could live with this one pretty well. Once again, there is every reason to buy this disc -- performance, sound, and price are right-on.

Excellent value for money.......2000-02-26

Rahbari was a student of Karajan's and he does a decent job here with a Belgian orchestra. If you want an inexpensive version of these two fine symphonies, you can do no better than this disc.