Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 & Sonata No.2

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
On the surface, Shostakovich's last symphony is a strange bird. One wonders why the first movement keeps quoting the William Tell overture. Why does the fourth movement incorporate Wagner's fate theme from the Ring? And why the cello and violin solos? The answers, frankly, don't matter. Amidst all these oddities, there is great music to be heard here. This reissue features the American premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15, from 1972--with Eugene Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra--paired with the composer's second piano sonata performed by Emil Gilels. Typically for Ormandy's Shostakovich, these are dramatic hallmark performances and the sonics--thanks to RCA's 24/96 remastering technology--are gorgeous. Notes from Ormandy explain part of this symphony's charm--Shostakovich imagined the first movement as a toy shop at night where the toys came to life (hence William Tell)--but it really must be heard to be appreciated. Gilels's performance on the sonata, dating from 1965, is lean and contemplative, but the symphony steals the show. With its great sound, and at midprice, this disc is steal. --Jason Verlinde

Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 & Sonata No.2, Music, Dmitry Shostakovich, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Emil Grigoryevich Gilels, 20th/21st Century Sonata/Sonatina for Keyboard, 20th/21st Century Symphony, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Keyboard, Orchestral & Symphonic, Symphonic

Shostakovich: Symphony No.15, Rayok
Average customer rating:

Not the Best Sanderling

Haunted Music

Shostakovich: Symphony No.15, Rayok
Deutsch , Halfvarson , Rodescu , Wentzel , Sanderling , and Cleveland Orchestra
Manufacturer: Elatus
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Shostakovich Symphonies and Concertos - An Owner's Manual: Unlocking the Masters Series (Unlocking the Masters)

ASIN: B000088DTI
Release Date: 2006-05-19

Tracks:

Symphony No.15 In A Major - Allegretto
Symphony No.15 In A Major - Adagio
Symphony No.15 In A Major - Allegretto
Symphony No.15 In A Major - Adagio
Rayok

Customer Reviews:

Not the Best Sanderling.......2007-02-10

Kurt Sanderling definitely was The Man when it came to Shostakovich's evanescent and enigmatic valedictory Symphony. It would seem that other than a few of the early Russian interpreters (most notably Kondrashin) he was the only conductor to make real sense of its odd twists and turns, the dark stillnesses and bombastic outbursts.
He recorded a great version of it with his own scrappy Berlin Symphony, whose somewhat rough execution made one wonder what he could do with a better orchestra. This seeming dream matchup with Cleveland, however, is a disappointment. It is as if Sanderling took some of the more daring aspects of his reading and pushed them a bit too far. The ending, for example, is now so slow that it flatlines.
Amazingly, a live recording with the Berlin Philharmonic has just been released on their own Berliner Philharmoniker label and it combines the virtues of the other two recordings, a great reading with a great orchestra in very good sound. Unfortunately, at least for now, you can only get it as an import, but it is quite a remarkable document. Otherwise, I would recommend the Berlin Symphony recording on Berlin Classics. They may be a second rate orchestra but it is a world class interpretation.

Haunted Music.......2006-09-20

This is one of the great performances of Shostakovich's last symphony. Kurt Sanderling (not Stefan, who is his son) brings a depth of understanding to this music that is far more than just musical: Sanderling lived behind the Iron Curtain, and he knew Shostakovich and the grim realities of Communist rule. The Cleveland Orchestra plays with extraordinary virtuosity and feeling under his direction, and I know of no performance that so powerfully conveys the haunted, eerie strangeness of this music. Sanderling's style may initially seem plain: he plays "straight" even the apparent joke in the first movement when the gallop from Rossini's "William Tell" Overture suddenly appears. But Sanderling's refusal to underline the joke enables the familiar music (as I think Shostakovich intended) to sound unsettlingly alien. Sanderling's control over the symphony is unerring, I think, and never in a recording have the last minutes of the finale been realized so perfectly: as you listen to the quiet sustained chord in the strings and the tick-tock of the percussion, you'll find your muscles tense and your pulse racing. It's some of the strangest, eeriest, music ever written, and the combination of Sanderling and the Cleveland Orchestra is a perfect match to convey the power and stature of the music. Get this before it disappears--it's one of the great Shostakovich recordings in history.

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Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 13 & 15

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ASIN: B000OPP9SY
Release Date: 2007-04-10

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A Historically Significant Box Set with Lasting Significance
Amazing performance of the 14th
Great set, but Symphony 14 sounds a little off
Great Recordings of Great Music at a Great Price.
fine

Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies

Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Dvorak & Saint-Saens: Cello Concertos
Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies & Tone Poems
Mahler: The Complete Symphonies
Bruckner: The Complete Symphonies
Prokofiev, Shostakovich: Violin Concertos no 1 / Rostropovich, Vengerov

ASIN: B000005824
Release Date: 1998-01-13

Tracks:

Symphony No. 1 In F Minor, Op. 10: Allegretto
Symphony No. 1 In F Minor, Op. 10: Allegro
Symphony No. 1 In F Minor, Op. 10: Lento
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Allegro molto
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Allegro
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Moderato
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Presto
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Largo
Symphony No. 9 In E Flat Major, Op. 70: Allegretto

Tracks:

Symphony No. 2 In B Major, Op. 14: Largo
Symphony No. 2 In B Major, Op. 14: Quarter Note = 152
Symphony No. 2 In B Major, Op. 14: Poco meno mosso - Allegro molto
Symphony No. 2 In B Major, Op. 14: Chorus: 'To October'
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Allegretto
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Piu mosso - Allegro
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Andante
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Allegro - Allegro molto
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Andante - Largo
Symphony No. 3 In E Flat Major, Op. 20: Chorus: 'The First of May'

Tracks:

Symphony No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 43: Allegretto poco moderato - Presto
Symphony No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 43: Moderato con moto
Symphony No. 4 In C Minor, Op. 43: Largo - Allegro

Tracks:

Symphony No. 5 In D Minor, Op. 47: Moderato - Allegro non troppo - Largamente - 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

Tracks:

Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 54: Largo
Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 54: Allegro
Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 54: Presto
Symphony No. 12 In D Minor, Op. 112: Revolutionary Petrograd
Symphony No. 12 In D Minor, Op. 112: Razliv
Symphony No. 12 In D Minor, Op. 112: Aurora
Symphony No. 12 In D Minor, Op. 112: The Dawn Of Humanity

Tracks:

Symphony No. 7 In C Major, Op. 60 'Leningrad': Allegretto
Symphony No. 7 In C Major, Op. 60 'Leningrad': Moderato (poco allegretto)
Symphony No. 7 In C Major, Op. 60 'Leningrad': Adagio
Symphony No. 7 In C Major, Op. 60 'Leningrad': Allegro non troppo

Tracks:

Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 65: Adagio - Allegro non troppo
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 65: Allegretto
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 65: Allegro non troppo
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 65: Largo
Symphony No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 65: Allegretto

Tracks:

Symphony No. 10 In E Minor, Op. 93: Moderato
Symphony No. 10 In E Minor, Op. 93: Allegro
Symphony No. 10 In E Minor, Op. 93: Allegretto
Symphony No. 10 In E Minor, Op. 93: Andante - Allegro

Tracks:

Symphony No. 11 In G Minor, Op. 103: The Palace Square
Symphony No. 11 In G Minor, Op. 103: The Ninth Of January
Symphony No. 11 In G Minor, Op. 103: In Memoriam
Symphony No. 11 In G Minor, Op. 103: The Tocsin

Tracks:

Symphony No. 13 In B Flat Minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar': Babi Yar: Adagio
Symphony No. 13 In B Flat Minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar': Humour: Allegretto
Symphony No. 13 In B Flat Minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar': In The Store: Adagio
Symphony No. 13 In B Flat Minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar': Fears: Largo
Symphony No. 13 In B Flat Minor, Op. 113 'Babi Yar': Career: Allegretto

Tracks:

Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: De profundis: Adagio
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: Malaguena: Allegretto
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: Lorelei: Allegro molto
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: The Suicide: Adagio
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: On Watch: Allegretto
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: Madam, Look!: Adagio
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: At The Sante Jail: Adagio
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: The Zaporozhian Cossack's Answer To The Sultan Of Constantinople: Allegro
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: O Delvig! O Delvig!: Andante
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: The Poet's Death: Largo
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135 For Soprano, Bass And Chamber Orchestra: Conclusion: Moderato

Tracks:

Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: Allegretto
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Largo
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: Allegretto
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto

Amazon.com essential recording

Mstislav Rostropovich was a friend of the composer, and his performances of the 15 Shostakovich symphonies are uniquely authoritative. It's true that as a conductor the great cellist has had his ups and downs, but unlike so many far less musical personalities, he has only recorded the music that he feels most passionately about, and the results have been generally impressive. His performances of Symphonies Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are really among the best ever, and there isn't as single performance among the rest that isn't at least very good. The National Symphony Orchestra of Washington in particular plays with real guts and conviction. An essential set for fans of the composer. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

A Historically Significant Box Set with Lasting Significance.......2004-10-03

This set of 12 CDs is a recording of all fifteen symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich by the cellist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. Not only is this survey of Shostokovich's very important symphonic output one of the few times we are able to listen to all the symphonies with as few variables as possible, allowing us to truly hear the course of thought and creativity and turmoil of Shostokovich, but it also fulfills a promise between the composer and his pupil (Rostropovich) to create this project. Rostropovich premiered some of these symphonies and had direct instruction from the composer as to the interpretation of them all. All of these facts make this a compendium of recordings that belong in the libraries of music lovers devoted to the genius of Shostakovich.

Now if only the individual performances were as solid as the project itself! While we may be hearing these works with the knowledge that the composer sanctioned them, they are variable in success. Part of this is due to the variable quality of sound the conductor elicits from the three orchestras involved (the National Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Members of the Academic Symphony Orchestra Moscow). The tempi are less successful than those chosen by better conductors performing these works today, and the usual degree of excitement obtained by other batons is missing. But the performances of all 15 symphonies are never less than interesting and are indeed at times illuminating. In all, this is an important body of recordings and belongs in collections of all those who appreciate the significance of Dmitri Shostakovich.

Amazing performance of the 14th.......2001-08-10

I currently own 5 versions of the 14th symphony (Kondrashin, Bernstein, Barshai (a relay of the preimiere in Moscow), Haitink, and another Rostropovich version on the Russian Revelation label. The Bernstein is saggy and contrived, the Haitink fails to excite, the earlier Rostropovich is in terrible audio, The Kondrashin is excellent and full of white heat, and the Barshai is even more hair raising.

And where does this version of the 14th belong? Among the very best. This perfomance's soloists were the original soloists Shostakovich intended (Vishnevskaya and Rhestin). The orchestra though different from the primiere is still excellent. When listening to the Haitink, the orchestra plays with emotional reservation. Not the case here

Great set, but Symphony 14 sounds a little off.......2001-07-26

Rostropovich's performance is very good, but I haven't particularly liked the 14th (my favourite!). Comparing this recording to the other two I own (Bernstein with the NY Philarmonic and Haitink with the Concertgebouw -- this last has lyrics in each poem's original language, which I like better), I found the performance sub-par. It seems the orchestra is not performing cohesively during some piano passages.

Also, it is a shame (or should I say a sham) that not all the CDs are sold individually. I tried to buy the series one-by-one across 3 countries (US, Brazil and Chile), and haven't found Symphony No. 7 so far...

Great Recordings of Great Music at a Great Price........2000-03-31

I feel bad for those of you who have passed by this title and have not ordered it. Buy it now or else buy a gun and shoot yourself because you don't know what you're missing! Great recordings of great music at a great price. Buy it now!

fine.......2000-03-17

Sorry,I cannot write or speak English well.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 / From Jewish Folk Poetry - Bernard Haitink

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A high point in Haitink's cycle
A Fine Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 and a Rare Bonus
An awfully primitive symphony, and a daring song cycle
A sane approach

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 / From Jewish Folk Poetry - Bernard Haitink
Dmitri Shostakovich , Elisabeth Soderstrom , Ortrun Wenkel , Ryszard Karczykowski , London Philharmonic Orchestra , Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra , and Bernard Haitink
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IP3B
Release Date: 2000-08-08

Tracks:

Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: I Allegretto
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: II Adagio - Largo
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: III Allegretto
Symphony No. 15 In A Major, Op. 141: IV Adagio - Allegretto
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: I Lament For A Dead Infant
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: II Fussy Mummy And Aunti
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: III Lullaby
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: IV Before A Long Seperation
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: V A Warning
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: VI The Deserted Father
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: VII A Song Of Poverty
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: VIII Winter
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: IX The Good Life
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: X A Girl's Song
From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op.79: XI Happiness

Customer Reviews:

A high point in Haitink's cycle.......2007-01-14

Shostakovich, like his friend Benjamin Britten, worte in a more austere, often bleak style toward the end of his life, and both composers, while never fully abandoning tonality, were at times so crytpic that they might have been writing for themselves. The Shostakovich 15th Sym., here given a very sympathetic reading by Hiatink in excellent, vivid sound, stands out for its melody and pathos. The quotations from Tristan, Wiliam Tell, etc. are considered cryptic, but there's no reason to be mystified. Collage is a familiar musical technique, and Shostakovich, whose musings on mortality may have awakened old memories of Wanger and Rossini simply because he loved them, embedded all the quotations in original settings.

Audiences tend to like the Fifteenth, and Haitink makes it even more accessible by underplaying the moments of bleakness and irony. That's consistent--his Shostakovich cyle was Middle European in style rather than Soviet. For more bite and depth, turn to Kurt Sanderling in his famous reading with the Cleveland Orch., but there's room for Haitink's reading, which is very well played by the London Phil., an orchestra for whim he had a great deal of affection.

Russia has a shameful streak of anti-Semitism in its history, and although the Soviet Union officially banned such things, Shostakovich confronted the authorities with their hypocrisy in a series of daring works, including Sym. 13 'Babi Yar' and the Piano Quintet, with its Jewish folk quotations in the finale. Here he turns to a volume of fok poetry that he found during the war. alarmed by the treatment of Jedws under Stalin, he devised simple melodies for these 11 songs, written in 1948 but not premiered until after Stalin's death five years later. The tunes are often doleful and seem authentically Jewish, even though they are original to Shostakovich. The performers do an exemplary job here.

In all, this last installment in Haitink's cycle is also one of its high points.

A Fine Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 and a Rare Bonus.......2005-11-15

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 has always polarized audiences, even those who are committed admirers of his music. Some find the quotations from Rossini and Wagner intrusive and facetious if not cheap, while others (this listener for one) have grown into this magnificent elegy by the tortured Shostakovich and consider it one his greatest achievements. Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra give a sparkling account of the work and while it does not have the ultimate pathos of, say the Rostropovich approach, the overall arc of the symphony is well thought and the inner components of the orchestral playing are superb.

While it is never fair to compare a recorded version with a live performance, having just had the joy of hearing young Russian conductor Andrey Boreyko guest conduct the LA Philharmonic in what seems to be the definitive performance of this great work only serves notice that we have a new Shostakovich expert rising in the ranks. Hopefully he will survey all 15 symphonies on recordings!

Symphony No 15 has everything Shostakovich did best in orchestration - pairing pizzicato strings against woodwind and brass choirs, embellishing sustained string chordal clouds with tinkling percussive instruments of every description, heavily grounded deep strings and tubas with solo instrument 'riffs', and above all creating occult messages about his personal conviction within the framework of the music. This symphony, being his last, ends with a movement based on the fate motif of Wagner exhaling to the final pages of soft high percussion ticking away at the clock of life that finally ends in death. It is overwhelmingly touching.

Haitink conducts the Concertbegouw Orchestra in 'From Jewish Folk Poetry', a rarely heard, completely apropos companion piece for this recording. Soloists Elisabeth Soderstrom, Ortrun Wenkel, and Ryszard Karczykowski breathe life into these works and offer us a side of Shostakovich for the most part unknown to audiences, at least in this country. This additional work more than justifies choosing this CD to add the 15th to your library. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 05

An awfully primitive symphony, and a daring song cycle.......2005-04-29

This Decca disc is the last in the series of Shostakovich's symphonies conducted by Bernard Haitink. It includes the composer's final symphony, the 15th, performed by the London Philharmonic, and the disc is filled out with his series "From Jewish Folk Poetry" performed by the Concertgebouw.

"Symphony No. 15" (1971) is, like the 14th, clearly inspired by the ageing composer's knowledge of his own mortality. However, while the 14th was concerned with the terror and inevitability of death, the 15th is a retrospective examination of the composer's whole life. It's opening movement with its evocations of toys and games is meant to represent childhood and the occasional appearance of the "William Tell Overture" speaks something about the innocence of youth. The subsequent plethora of quotations from earlier works summaries the composer's career. Those familiar with Shostakovich's work will notice bits here from nearly all his symphonies, such as the elegant inclusion of the DSCH motif from the 10th. There are also quotations from Wagner, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky.

I find this work quite disappointing. By the early seventies, serialism and other modern techniques were well-known in the Soviet Union, even if facing official disapproval. In the previous decade other Soviet composers like Part and Gubaidulina had already made use of this progress in music. Shostakovich, however, continues to write with the same tools he always has, even though this is now historically superseded. It's not bad music, in fact it is quite pleasant and entertaining, but there is little original insight. The work also seems to lose energy towards the end, with the third and fourth movements being quite lethargic, though this may be Haitink's fault.

"From Jewish Folk Poetry" for soloists and piano (1948) was a daring work, written just as Stalin was considering a series of pogroms against the Jews which would be as terrible as anything done in Nazi Germany. For a composer to show solidarity with these persecuted people, especially after his second official condemnation, is a display of the greatest courage. The songs are filled with tragedy, as is evident with titles such as "The Lament for a Dead Baby", "Before a Long Parting", "The Abandoned Father", "The Song of Misery". The closing piece is the absurdly ironic "The Good Life". Shostakovich seems to have wisely chosen to let the words of the songs carry the message and keep only a minimum of orchestration for the sake of variety. The soloists here are Elisabeth Soderstrom and Ortrun Wenkel and, while their performances are satisfactory, I have never been happy with the quality of this recording, which makes all the instrumental forces seem packed together.

All in all, the 15th isn't as impressive as most of the composer's earlier works and seems crippled by the limitations of its musical language. The song cycle, on the other hand, is an elegant piece worth hearing. If you haven't heard any of Decca's Shostakovich series with Haitink conducting, try the disc with the 5th and 9th, or the disc with the morbid but fascinating 14th filled out with the great song cycle from poems of Tsvetaeva.

A sane approach.......2003-04-10

You dont go to Haitink for extremes or quirkiness, so it may seem odd to recommend his recording of a work which some other conductors play as if it was the epitome of irony and quirkiness. But, just as his Mahler 6th of the early sixties offered a truly symphonic and comprehensible picture of that dark and tragic work, so this Shostakovich 15th brings us profundity mixed with tenderness viewed through sanity. And its that very sanity, which some critics (e.g. the authors of the Good CD Guide) deride, which makes the ethereal ending of the 15th so moving and yet so understandable, so human and universal in a way which more obviously edgy performances can't do. The sound is equally analytical and clear, both involving and yet also distancing in exactly the way the symphony is. There is a place for white-hot Shostakovitch interpretations, especially in the 15th, but there is also a place for this pensive and profoundly human one.

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Evgeny Kissin in Concert (Box Set)

Manufacturer: Brilliant Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Fantasy

ASIN: B000274T8U
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 & Sonata No.2

Average customer rating:

Buy it for Gilels
A bland run-through, nowhere close to the best
More, give me more
Interesting approachs !
First Recording still the best

Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 & Sonata No.2

Manufacturer: RCA
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Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphoses; Concert Music for Strings and Brass; Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin - Suite
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Schostakowitsch: Symphonie No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93

ASIN: B00003OP6Z
Release Date: 2000-01-11

Tracks:

Allegretto - The Philadelphia Orchestra
Adagio - The Philadelphia Orchestra
Allegretto - The Philadelphia Orchestra
Adagio/Allegretto - The Philadelphia Orchestra
Allegretto - Emil Gilels
Largo - Emil Gilels
Moderato - Emil Gilels

Amazon.com

On the surface, Shostakovich's last symphony is a strange bird. One wonders why the first movement keeps quoting the William Tell overture. Why does the fourth movement incorporate Wagner's fate theme from the Ring? And why the cello and violin solos? The answers, frankly, don't matter. Amidst all these oddities, there is great music to be heard here. This reissue features the American premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15, from 1972--with Eugene Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra--paired with the composer's second piano sonata performed by Emil Gilels. Typically for Ormandy's Shostakovich, these are dramatic hallmark performances and the sonics--thanks to RCA's 24/96 remastering technology--are gorgeous. Notes from Ormandy explain part of this symphony's charm--Shostakovich imagined the first movement as a toy shop at night where the toys came to life (hence William Tell)--but it really must be heard to be appreciated. Gilels's performance on the sonata, dating from 1965, is lean and contemplative, but the symphony steals the show. With its great sound, and at midprice, this disc is steal. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

Buy it for Gilels.......2006-03-22

To be brutally honest, Ormandy sleepwalks through a dreary performance of the 15th - listen to Barshai for an example of how to make this symphony work - but it's worth getting the CD for Gilels' wonderful version of the second sonata.

A bland run-through, nowhere close to the best.......2005-10-20

It's habitual for Amazon reviews to turn into cheerleading, but despite the affection Ormandy seems to arouse, this isn't a very good Shostakovich 15th. Ormandy's phrasing is too bland and uninflected. As execution, he leads the Phiadelphia Orchestra in the way one expects--the sound is plush and carefully modulated. But Shostakovich needs a lot more than that. There's no irony, savagery, or despair in this reading. Just of the versions I own, the ones by Feodesev, Haitink, Sanderling, and Mravinsky stand far ahead of this one.

More, give me more.......2005-09-22

This recording was one of the first Symphony #15 received, and it was a landmark performance. While the Sonata is a wonderful pairing, I really wish RCA/BMG/Sony would issue Symphony #13 and #14. They far outstrip all competition in the field. I even wonder, now that BMG and Sony are together, if a huge box set could be issued of Symphonies 1, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, and 15, all with Ormandy and Philadelphia, and all in stellar sound. I'd even wonder if others lurk in the Philadelphia vaults that could be added, say 7, 9 or 11. Judging by the quality of those performances I know, I'd leap at a recording by Ormandy of as many of the Shostakovich symphonies as BMG/Sony want to put together. But PLEASE bring us #13 and #14!!!

Interesting approachs !.......2004-09-03

Ormandy had a special affection with Shostakovich symphonies . Watch for instance , the Fourth and the Tenth symphonies . The fourth is the best of the market by far and the tenth is just behind the colossal and unbeatable perfromance of Mitropoulus . In this case this symphony is a special rendition to Wagner music . The specila rendez vous about the Ring could suggest the fall of the Soviets Gods . Pitifully Shostakovich could not see the end of the Empire , but he had this suspicion . You know the artists have that special sense far beyond the common people calls the sixth senes . i wolud define it as a hypersensibility deeply inmersed in the mind and the soul of this prodigious musician . Ormandy plays this symphony with noblesse and very well dosified rage . and the strings of the Philadelphia are as you know the most powerful in all the universe of the american orchestras .
The Second Sonata is deeply introspective , meditative and very touching . This work has been unfairly neglected for the most of the keyboardists . It is a litle jewel .
Shostakovich had always something to say about all in his camera works . Notice the Sonata for Cello , the astonishing piano quintet or his string quartets , a micro universe in themselves .
Excellent performance of Gilels in this piano work .

First Recording still the best.......2004-02-26

I got to know Shostakovich's 15th from the LP of this performance, the work's first recording (in the West, anyhow). It has come up well in RCA's stunning remastering, and is still the best performance overall that I know. Ormandy paces the enigmatic piece moderately, never over-emphasizing any of the contrasting moods (as Jansons does in his more- too?- full-blooded approach, with the LPO on EMI), or rushing it to try and whip up excitement (as Neeme Jarvi does on DG with the Gothenberg Orchestra). Haitink's old Decca version is very good (as are all his Shotakovich symphonies- you could do worse than buy the box set), but Ormandy had the better band, and the added focus born of premiering the work.
Couplings help decide the issue: Jarvi has been reissued in a 2-cd set with his Shostakovich 13th & 14th Symphonies: good value if you don't have any of them, and fine singing from Sergei Leiferkus in 14, but still a rush in 15. Jansons is coupled with the Second Piano Concerto, beautifully played by Mikhail Rudy, but it's a better idea to get both concertos on one disc: I'd recommend Bronfman or Hamelin. The RCA disc couples Ormandy's reading with a justly famous, magisterial performance of the Second Piano Sonata by Emil Gilels: game and match. I heartily agree with the reviewer ryzzard that Ormandy's 14th should be reissued: another first recording, featuring the great Phyllis Curtin. The way things are going with BMG, though, I'd say don't hold your breath.
In '97 DG released a recording of a transcription of the 15th Symphony for violin, cello, piano, celeste and percussion, played by Gidon Kremer's group Kremerata Musica. It doesn't quite work as a cogent piece of music, since Shostakovich always thought orchestrally, but it's very interesting to hear the bones of the piece's structure laid bare. I don't know if this CD is still available.
Meanwhile, 5 stars for Ormandy, and for Gilels. The symphony is a haunting masterpiece.

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15; Piano Concerto No. 2, Op102; Gadfly Suite Op97a

Average customer rating:

Excellent performance of the Second Concert!
a luscious concerto

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15; Piano Concerto No. 2, Op102; Gadfly Suite Op97a
Dmitry Shostakovich , Mariss Jansons , Mikhail Rudy , and London Philharmonic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000C2JR
Release Date: 1998-10-06

Tracks:

I: Allegretto - London Philharmonic Orchestra
II: Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Largo - Robert Truman
III: Allegretto - London Philharmonic Orchestra
IV: Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto - London Philharmonic Orchestra
I: Allegro - Mikhail Rudy
II: Andante - Mikhail Rudy
III: (Allegro) - Mikhail Rudy
VIII: Romance - London Philharmonic Orchestra
III: Folk Feast - Joakim Svenheden

Customer Reviews:

Excellent performance of the Second Concert!.......2004-08-23

I have always thought the Adagio of this sublime concert is a real future jump . Consider in this sense the Andante of the Mozart ninth concerto , the Lento of the Bach arrangement fifth piano concerto or Beethoven second movement of his third piano concerto.
Shostakovich composed something deepes than a simlpe 19 th anniversary for his son . He was thinking in the future . This movement is loaded of cosmic nuance and nosthalgical high level moods .
The couple Jasnson Rudy works out to the perfection .
Michail Rudy is one of the strange pianists of today who seem to isolate of the rest of the standard . His sound does not seek effectism . He is an absolut artist , deeply involved in the meaning of every bar and the sense of every work he plays .
It is not a question related with the technicianship , it is much more than that . He assumes a real commitment with the score . I knew thanks to a Liszt recordings and his pianism surprised me positively .
His inmense skills and deep musical thought makes from him a real hope in this great universe of countless performers, but where only a few have something to say .

a luscious concerto.......2001-08-24

Symphony # 15 starts out with a jovial 1st movement, even borrowing the theme from Rossini's "William Tell Overture" for an added touch of humor...the 2nd movement is a complete contrast, sad and somber, with a dirge-like melody played by the brass section, and with echoes of his 5th symphony. The 3rd returns to being lighter in feeling, and in the 4th, he borrows more themes, this time from Wagner.

The 2nd Piano Concerto is a big favorite of mine, and here played well by Mikhail Rudy. Shostakovich wrote it for his son's 19th birthday (pianist/conductor Maxim Shostakovich), and it's incredibly melodic, with a glorious 2nd movement. Sadly neglected, way too many people (even musicians !) don't even know this magnificent concerto even exists.

Tracks:

Sym No.9 in E flat, op.70: I Allegro
Sym No.9 in E flat, op.70: II Moderato
Sym No.9 in E flat, op.70: III Presto
Sym No.9 in E flat, op.70: IV Largo
Sym No.9 in E flat, op.70: V Allegretto
Sym No.15 in A, op.141: I Allegretto
Sym No.15 in A, op.141: II Adagio
Sym No.15 in A, op.141: III Allegretto
Sym No.15 in A, op.141: IV Adagio-Allegretto

Customer Reviews:

Tame, agreeable readings in very good sound.......2006-01-13

Russian conductors don't placate Shostakovich's grim moods, but Ashkenazy plays to Western tastes here. This Decca recording from 1989-90 finds the Royal Phil. in good shape, especially as caught in demonstration-quality sound. The Ninth Sym. has rarely sounded so jaunty and optimistic. Ashkenazy is at his best here, and for anyone who prefers Shostakovich shorn of gloom, this is as cheery as things get.

Ashkenzay stays sunny through the first movement of the Fifteenth Sym., making a joke of the Rossini quotes from William Tell, but he runs into the shallows later. Shostakovich radically juxtaposed parody and tragedy in this enigmatic work, and to keep on the lighter side all the time tells only half the story. We aren't in a house of the dead but a fun house with some ghosts around the edges. Again, the sonics are outstanding, even if Ashkenazy is gliding over the surface.

Average customer rating:

Simply the Best Classical Passion

Manufacturer: Warner Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000087HXC
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Tracks:

Gymnopedie No.1 - Michel Legrand
The Swan - Guher Pekinel
Andante - Elizabeth Leonskaja
Adagio Sustenuto - Alexei Sultavno
E Lucevan Le Stelle - Jose Cura
Lever Du Jour - Cleveland Orchestra
Mon Coeur S'ouvre A Ta Voix - Olga Borodina
Nimrod - Sir Andrew Davis
Adagio - Orchestre Philharmonique De Monte-Carlo
Pas De Deux - Ondrej Lenard
Bolero (Excerpt) - Cleveland Orchestra
Prelude (Excerpt) - Theodor Guschlbauer
The Swan Of Tuonela, Op.22/2 - Sir Andrew Davis
Prelude In D Flat, Op.28 No.15 - Nikolai Lugansky

Tracks:

Andante Semplice - Alexei Sultanov
Adagio - Hugh Wolff
Romance In F Major, Op.50 - Thomas Zehetmair
Adagio - Dieter Klocker
Nocturne No.1 In B Minor, Op.9/1 - Elisabeth Leonskaja
Andante - Elisabeth Leonskaja
Notturno - Brodsky Quartet
Berceuse - Philharmonia Orchestra
Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis - Tasmin Little
Kinderszenen, Op.15 'Dreaming' - Cyprien Katsaris

Album Description

Full title - Simply The Best - Classical Passion - Music For Classic Lovers. This 2 CD album from Warner Music features 24 classical melodies to help you and the one you love, stimulate your senses. Slipcase. Warner. 2003.

Album Details

This Double CD Album from Warner Music features 24 Passionate Classical Melodies to Help You and the One You Love Stimulate Your Senses.

Average customer rating:

Brash in one and spectral in the other
A 15th to rival Haitink (and better than all others)
Astonishing 15th Symphony

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15
Jesus Lopez-Cobos
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Ovation--Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 / Haitink
Mahler: Symphony No. 10
Shostakovich: Symphonies No 6 & 12 /Haitink
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No1, Op107; Violin Concerto No1 (revised), Op99

ASIN: B00005N57Z
Release Date: 2001-07-24

Tracks:

I. Allegretto / Allegro Non Troppo
II. Allegro
III. Lento -
IV. Allegro Molto
I. Allegretto
II. Adagio -
III. Allegretto
IV. Adagio / Allegretto

Customer Reviews:

Brash in one and spectral in the other.......2003-04-25

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975) arguably made the most significant contribution to the twentieth century development of the symphony after the work of Gustav Mahler. Like Mahler, he never avoided the popular appeal of near-cinematic drama or tunefulness and, again like Mahler, he sought to integrate folk material with the forms of the polyphonic tradition stemming from Bach. Shostakovich wrote fifteen symphonies in all. Two of them, the Second and the Third, deviate strongly from the norms of the genre and have been described as "poster-art symphonies" (later in life, their composer preferred to ignore them); but all the others correspond to expectation: they are in three, four, or five movements (or multiple movements in the case of the Fourteenth, a song-cycle with chamber orchestra) and the opening movement is usually an expanded sonata. Indeed, Shostakovich's breakthrough came with a symphony, his First (1925) in F-Minor, submitted as his graduation exercise from the then Petrograd Conservatory, where he studied with the world-weary but avuncular Alexander Glazunov. Shostakovich's early work shows the influence partly of Stravinsky and partly of Hindemith. We thus hear echoes of "Petrouschka" on the one hand and of the various "Kammermusiks" on the other. Present in embryo, so to speak, is the irony that pervades the composer's much later work, and a good performance of the First Symphony succeeds by bringing this element to the foreground. Jesús Lopez-Cobos and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra perhaps bite less ferociously than they might, but they do discover a brooding quality in the slow and quiet passages of the second and third movements that suggests another powerful Shostakovich affinity - the Alban Berg of "Wozzeck," which had been performed in Russia in the 1920s. The Third Movement (Lento) benefits especially from this treatment. Listening to the Lopez-Cobos traversal of this score, I am made aware of how closely it forecasts the same composer's Ninth Symphony (1945). From the other end of Shostakovich's symphonic career, Lopez-Cobos offers the Fifteenth Symphony (1972) in A-Major, one of the last scores that the composer completed. The classic recording of the Fifteenth is the first, from 1974 or 75 (if I am not mistaken), with the composer's son Maxim leading the Moscow Philharmonic: the raw sound of the Russian orchestra, especially the rattling brass and sharp-voiced, satirical woodwinds, fits the music beautifully. Non-Russian orchestras invariably bring a smoother sound to the interpretation (with this score and with every other by the composer) than do Russian ones and the present case is no exception. What Lopez-Cobos lacks in mocking raspberry, however, he more than makes up for in dark luminosity. The Fifteenth - with its network of encoded musical and autobiographical allusions - belongs with the last three String Quartets in its gnomic and entirely "personal" quality. Lopez-Cobos takes the opening Allegretto quietly, in a way that distinguishes his reading from others and emphasizes the "interior" character of the music. The obvious quotations from Rossini (the "William Tell" Overture made famous for Americans by its association with the cowboy character of the Lone Ranger) and Rimsky-Korsakov ("The Golden Cockerel") acquire a ghostly, phantasmagoric quality; the bizarre fugato passages seem especially nocturnal and alienated. The longish Adagio, which follows, includes prominent parts for solos, such as the cello, the trombone, and the flute; Lopez-Cobos builds to the great climax in the brass most effectively. Between the slow movement and the Finale comes a typical Shostakovich scherzo, full of irony and weird turns. The Finale itself is a set of variations on the "Fate Theme" from Wagner's "Ring." It bears some resemblance formally to the variations-finale of Carl Nielsen's Sixth (and last) Symphony. As in the Fourteenth Symphony, percussion are to the fore, especially the xylophone, with its skeletal, hence mortal, implications. Telarc's engineering is superb. It well serves the conductor's entirely valid interpretation of the work. For a more mordant view, one might seek out Maxim Shostakovich or Mstislav Rostropovich. But Lopez-Cobos can stand on his own merits. No one coming to the Fifteenth Symphony would do badly by this disc.

A 15th to rival Haitink (and better than all others).......2003-04-16

Wasn't sure what to expect apart from great sound. The sound is certainly good as well as realistic. Perhaps the last ounce of sparkle (e.g. on triangles and cymbal) is missing, but i may just be being picky.

Certainly, the performances have rapidly grown on me. I'm a big fan of the (seemingly unfashionable) Haitink recording of the 15th. because of its sanity, but this version adds a touch more flair to the sanity and also seems more organic and possibly even more coherent as a performance. To my surprise, this goes to the top of the heap (very easily over Rostropovich but also over Kondrashin and even over Maxim Shostakovich) and after a few more hearings may even supplant Haitink.

And, of course, you get the bonus of a very good recording of the 1st symphony, which is probably more approachable to most people than Haitink's coupling of the songs from jewish folk poetry).

Recommended, though if you wait a little longer it will probably come out on SACD, being a DSD recording and maybe that ultimnate sparkle in percussion may be there after all.

Astonishing 15th Symphony.......2001-08-06

If we consider there is a time span of 45 years between the conceptions of Shostakovich's symphonies no. 1 and no. 15 (his last) it is incredible to ascertain that everything that made him a great and universal composer was present right at the beginning of his career. In most of his symphonies (which, as in Mahler's case, can be considered as a gesammtkunstwerk with numerous repetitions and interweaving threads) the sense for jocular esprit and brooding melancholy are a consistent factor, the rhythmic use of the instruments and above all, the great melodic parts for the solo instruments, never stop to surprise. In comparison with Bernstein's interpretation of the first Symphony on Sony Classical (SMK 47614) in SBM-format (recording of 1969) the Lopez-Cobos interpretation is played with less vigour and stamina, but the details of the composition blend more accurately with the totality of the work.
Due to the exeptional recording quality of this Telarc disc in DSD and a total playing time of almost 77 minutes you can't go wrong with this one!

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