Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"There is no monument above Babi Yar," Yevgeny Yevtushenko laments in his poem about the Ukrainian ravine where the Germans shot thousands of Jews in 1941. Twenty years later, he and Shostakovich created a memorial more lasting and searing than any marble headstone. Yevtushenko's poems express fiery political protest and youthful idealism and, as in other "choral" symphonies, the words and voices add immeasurably to the emotional impact of the music. Scored for solo bass, male chorus (singing in unison) and a large orchestra, each of the symphony's five movements is set to a poem depicting an aspect of life under Stalin; the music complements and heightens the poetry's atmosphere, mood, and narrative intensity. "Humor" and "A Career" are vintage Shostakovich Scherzos: sardonic, grotesque, with robust, almost vulgar irregular dance rhythms and a sophisticated fugal section - the gallows-humor of despair. "In the Store" is a lament-laden hymn to the hardships of Russian women; "Fears" is a spooky, ominous, frightening description of the pall of dread hanging over everyone. The longest, most wrenching movement, of course, is "Babi Yar." Dark, mournful, often wild, it is an outcry of the helpless down-trodden against the inhumanity of the powerful, but the poet's attempt to identify with the suffering Jewish victims by being a "true Russian" is not entirely convincing. The symphony represents the composer at the height of his technical and expressive power. Solo and choral passages alternate, the orchestration is stunning, full of dynamic and timbral variety and contrast. The performance is splendid; the German orchestra and chorus sound as authentic and involved as the Russian soloist and conductor. --Edith Eisler

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Music, Sergey Aleksashkin, Dmitry Shostakovich, Mariss Jansons, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, 20th/21st Century Symphony with Solo Voice and Chorus, Classical, Classical Composers, Orchestral & Symphonic, Symphonic

Ovation--Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 / Haitink
Average customer rating:

A well of sorrows, and some thin writing from Shostakovich

Sounds Great, But Misses The Heart

A MUSICAL MONUMENT

A stunning performance

Begins and Ends with the Toll of the Bell

Ovation--Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 / Haitink
Bernard Haitink , Marius Rintzler , Royal Concertgebouw Men's Chorus , and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000IP3H
Release Date: 2000-08-08

Tracks:

Symphony No.13 In B Flat Minor, Op.113 'Babi Yar': I. Adagio: Babi Yar
Symphony No.13 In B Flat Minor, Op.113 'Babi Yar': II. Allegretto: Humour
Symphony No.13 In B Flat Minor, Op.113 'Babi Yar': III. Adagio: In The Store
Symphony No.13 In B Flat Minor, Op.113 'Babi Yar': IV. Largo: Fears
Symphony No.13 In B Flat Minor, Op.113 'Babi Yar': V. Allegretto: A Career

Customer Reviews:

A well of sorrows, and some thin writing from Shostakovich.......2005-10-05

The 13th Sym. was an exciting political event when Ormandy (I believe it was) premiered the work in the U.S., coming as a Cold War protest work from a major Soviet artist--two, actually, since the renegade poet Yevtushenko, who wrote the text, was a darling of the cultural thaw as well. In retrospect, the Thirteenth Sym. hasn't weakened to the extent that Shostakovich's equally renowned Seventh Sym. has. The music in the first movment holds up well, as it should since the poem, Babi Yar, with its brave protest against Russian anti-Semitism in World War II, remains a cry from the heart.

But the reamaining four movements rapidly decline into something like politically correct protest against the daily hardship of life for the common Russian--not a great subjet for inspiring music. It takes a lot for a conductor to overcome the banality and dreariness that settles into this well of sorrows.

Haitink's performance is blessed with excellent sound and orchestral execution--both far ahead of any rival CD from Russia, although the live performance from Prague under Maxim Shostakovich on Supraphon is competitive. It is also more commiited and angrier than Haitink's reading, which tends to sound a bit too polite. in both cases the chorus and bass soloist are very good.

Frankly, I get fatigued hearing a Boris Godunov-type bass dwelling on sorrow for fifty minutes, so it was a happy event to find that one recording--the Sinaisky on the BBC label, a live tape from a Proms concert in London--features a lighter baritone in the excellent Sergei Leiferkus. He is an accomplished vocal actor, better than any bass I've heard in this part, and his leaner voice makes the protest poetry sound moe urgent. Otherwise, I keep the Hiatink and M. Shostakovich sets on my shelf as very good alternatives.

Sounds Great, But Misses The Heart.......2003-12-14

As other reviewers point out, this is a monumental, great sounding performance. It is also heavy handed, slow, and misses something essential to the work that Shostakovich created in his Symphony #13. What is the 'Babi Yar' symphony? It began when Shostakovich read Yevtushenko's controversial poem 'Babi Yar' and decided to set it to music. He then expanded the work into a song cycle of settings of Yevtushenko's poems, one of which was specifically written for the cycle. The heart of the work is the bass who sings these songs. A male choir responds to and ampifies what the soloist sings. The orchestra fills out and illustrates the music that the soloist sings. This is the work Shostakovich wrote. It is not what Haitink delivers. In this massive performance, he clarifies the structures and textures of the accompaniment and puts them first. The chorus and soloist are just pieces of a symphonic puzzle to be elucidated and virtuosically played. The performance is almost the reverse of Shostakovich's intention. The considerable emotional range of each of the songs is flattened by Haitink's heavy hand into relative monotony. (When you hear another bass sing this, you'll understand) The slow, tightly controlled tempos don't help matters. Whatever you may think of Yevtushenko's poetry, they are NOT emotionally flat or tightly controlled! There are livelier performances of this work out there that are truer to nature of this symphony, even though they are generally less available. Keep looking. It's worth it.

A MUSICAL MONUMENT.......2003-07-06

This is surely a 5* effort of its type, the type being a big-scale, forceful, in-your-face type.The recording is right for such a reading being very clear and sharply etched, the orchestral playing is magnificent and the bass solo is majestic as he would have to be to stay in keeping but with an appropriate sense of reticence too - any suggestion of Amonasro or Wotan or even Boris Godunov would have been wince-making.

Part of Mahler's legacy is that things now get called symphonies that Brahms or Bruckner would have called cantatas. To me this `symphony' is a cantata. Indeed in the old Rozhdestvensky version the bass solo is semi-spoken, which would make it a `parlata' if there is such a word. Where it is completely different in spirit from Brahms or Bruckner or Bach or Handel is in the music being subordinate to the message, not the other way about as it always is with them. There are five separate but linked messages, the frustrated, ironic and distraught states of mind of `a stranger and afraid/In a world he never made'. The poems are by Yevtushenko, and I would imagine (I have no Russian) that the purely poetic element is similarly subordinated to the themes expressed. To me music is always a separate thing from any themes or messages it is associated with, and that is probably why I have never fully come to terms with Shostakovich from whose standpoint such thinking might well have seemed a bit of a luxury. Purely as music this work ought to impress anyone of even the slightest sensitivity, but for all its power it still leaves me unable to identify a distinctive musical personality in this composer the way I can identify the personality of Prokofiev. Shostakovich is eclectic, very adroit with all the styles he adopts, but is there some `real' musical identity that I can derive from the music itself without reference to his biography, which is not the way I like to approach any music? To compare him in artistic significance with Saint-Saens would be outrageous, but in that respect they have a strange similarity.

Obviously the Babiy Yar atrocity is the most powerful of the 5 themes here. The work was composed in 1962, a mere 20 years after the event itself and the events elsewhere in Europe with which it had such a conspicuous and frightful affinity. 40 years on the pious orthodoxy is that we must make sure that such an event never recurs. In actual fact we have had all-too-similar events in Cambodia, in Rwanda and in Yugoslavia, the last two sharing the particularly filthy characteristic of being racially-motivated. Not only have we failed to prevent these, we seem to have all but forgotten them, and a new Holocaust-industry is now serving some strange objectives. I retain faith that the race that gave the world Mendelssohn and Mahler, to say nothing of Einstein, can yet rise above what has become self-obsession and lay the injustices finally to rest with a monument as noble and powerful as this.

A stunning performance.......2003-05-05

I have always seen #13 as the greatest of Shostakovich's symphonies. Its moods include despair, defiance (both loud and quiet), anger at oppression, but ultimately ends in a mood of some optimism. Ultimately it affirms that the artist has a duty to speak the truth, no matter what the risk. The artist must force people to acknowledge what they would prefer to ignore, and although the artist may suffer greatly for this, he will ultimately triumph and be remembered.

Shostakovich was certainly writing from the heart when composing this symphony, and the result is a gripping work from beginning to end. Haitink and the Concertgebouw Orchestra have done an excellent job. I believe this is the finest of Haitink's Shostakovich cycle. Some people have criticized his treatment as being heavy-handed, but I don't see how one could listen to the final movement and make that accusation,

This is an essential CD for any Shostakovich collection. If you know Shostakovich only for his 5th Symphony, then you will be in for a suprise.

Begins and Ends with the Toll of the Bell.......2002-07-13

The story goes that Shostakovich read Yevtushenko's poem "Babi Yar" in a journal, and immediately wanted to set it to music, and in fact he had practically done the work when he called the poet for permission to use the poem. Then began a kind of collaborative process in which Yevtushenko wrote four other poems, so that settings of the five would together comprise a symphony for orchestra, solo bass and men's chorus.

The first movement is so marvelously dramatic and so perfectly complements the text, that anything I might say would be superfluous. Shostakovich's talent for building "brute textures" here has full play, in music of searing directness and simplicity.

"Humor" is a heavy-booted scherzo for the second movement; a little too heavy perhaps, though it absolutely serves the text (rulers have commanded parades, demonstrating their might, but they cannot command humor, which is always a power of the people).

Where in his eighth symphony, Shostakovich wrote a symphony with two scherzi, here in the thirteenth, he pulls off two slow movements. The first of these, "In the Store", begins with a low-string monologue, establishing a long-breathed rhythm which is maintained throughout. Most of the movement is fairly quiet, like the lives of the Russian women whose strength and perseverance is commemorated in the poem, and who bore the brunt of the injustices and hardships of the Soviet era. A long crescendo builds to accentuate indignation at their treatment by self-interested merchants ("It is shameful to short-change them, It is sinful to short-weight them").

Such were the circumstances of his life, that Shostakovich refined the writing of gloomy music to an intense degree; the opening of the fourth movement, "Fears," with its seemingly aimless muffled tuba, grumbles in the percussion played so softly that you strain to hear them, a keening melody in the low strings, and then the men's choir coming in on a monotone, "Fears are dying out in Russia" ... in a way personally unfortunate for the composer, but artistically fortunate for the world, Shostakovich had been prepared by long years to write just such a chilling passage of musical understatement.

The last movement, "A Career" alternates between a tired, and almost strangely complacent, waltz theme introduced by the flute, and a bumptious setting of the text itself, so that when the bass solo and the men's choir are present, the feeling of the second movement ("Humor") is distantly recalled. But the bouncy music evolves into a fughetta, which turns edgy with the horn entrance; this subsides into a graver mood for the voices ("Those who hurled curses have been forgotten, We remember the ones they cursed"). The bells which opened the symphony come back, softer, the nostalgic waltz returns in the strings ... at the last, a final toll of the bell dies away into silence.

Tracks:

Piano Concerto No. 1: Andante semplice
Piano Sonata No. 8 'Pathetique': Adagio cantabile
Romance, Op. 50
Concerto For Clarinet And Orchestra, K. 622: Adagio
Piano Concerto No. 2: Andante
Symphone No. 3: Poco Allegretto
Nocturne No. 1
Slavonic Dance Op. 72, No. 2: Dumka
Impromptu Op. 90, No. 3: Andante
Symphony In C Major: Adagio
Pavane pour une infante defunte

Customer Reviews:

Bought it for the cover art ..........2007-06-12

... and keep playing it for the exquisite cuts. I'm usually leery of compilations - there's usually a dog or two among the group - but this one is absolutely fine from top to bottom. In fact, these are some of the best renditions of these movements I've ever heard. There are some truly breathtaking moments here ...

The best mix classics.......2003-12-04

I never get bored listening to this album. Shostakovish's is the most sensual one in this. Dvorak's is the most dramatic one changing the mood from down to up. Ravel's is the saddest which you want to let it play when your most loved die. The rest of them all mean something. You go find out.

Great Music!.......2000-01-22

This CD has some great music on it. Who really cares if there are two men hlding each other on the cover? That's not the important thing. This CD contains some of the best romantic music by some of the world's greatest composers: Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Ravel, Mozart, and others. And, the recordings are wonderful. Congratulations to all the musicians!

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar"

Average customer rating:

An energetic reading that sees light amidst the gloom

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar"

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000JCDSGC
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Customer Reviews:

An energetic reading that sees light amidst the gloom.......2007-05-02

The tone of Shostakovich's 'Babi Yar" symphony belongs so strongly to Soviet Russia that nobody outside that climate seems able to catch it exactly right. Shostakovich and Yevtushenko had both known despair and the helplessness of artists maddened by idiotic bureaucrats. tehy both knew what it was liked to be spied on, and they lived with the bitter disparity between Soviet propaganda and reality. Temirkanov seems perfeclty at home with those feelings, and unlike some of his compatriots, he isn't as black and heavy-handed.

His first movement is energetic, faster than most, and clearly detailed. The second movement, Humor, proceeds at a clip, which helps to relieve the prevailing darkness. The fluttering flutes that introduce the finale sound happier than usual, so overall one must consider this a very positive performance. Orchestra and chorus perform very well and are caught in excellent sound. The soloist, Gergei Aleksashkin, is a specialist in this work. He's already recorded it with Rudolf Barshai and Mariss Jansons, the latter quite recenlty. It would have been nice to hear another viewpoint vocally, but Aleksashkin is fine, without quite the bite and sarcasm I love in Sergei Leiferkus.

In sum, Temirkanov reinforces his reputation as one of Russia's leading conductors, and even if this isns't the most searching Shostakovich 13th, it's one of the easiest to listen to in one stretch.

Average customer rating:

Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 13 & 15

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000OPP9SY
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Average customer rating:

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

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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

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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.

Average customer rating:

GREAT SYMPHONY - GREAT PERFORMANCE!!!

Shostakovich: Symphony No13, Op113

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Babi Yar (Yevtushenko) - Sir Anthony Hopkins
I Adagio: Humour - Sergi Aleksashkin/Men Of The Chicago Sym Chor/Duain Wolfe
Humour (Yevtushenko) - Sir Anthony Hopkins
II Allegretto: Humour - Sergi Aleksashkin/Men Of The Chicago Sym Chor/Duain Wolfe
In the Store (Yevtushenko) - Sir Anthony Hopkins
Fears (Yevtushenko) - Sir Anthony Hopkins
A Career (Yevtushenko) - Sir Anthony Hopkins
III Adaigo: In The Store - Sergi Aleksashkin/Men Of The Chicago Sym Chor/Duain Wolfe
IV Largo: Fears - Sergi Aleksashkin/Men Of The Chicago Sym Chor/Duain Wolfe
V Allegretto: A Career - Sergi Aleksashkin/Men Of The Chicago Sym Chor/Duain Wolfe

Customer Reviews:

GREAT SYMPHONY - GREAT PERFORMANCE!!!.......2005-10-17

Solti and the CSO along with Sir Anthiny Hopkins give a gripping, searching performance to what may soon be regarded as one of the most important 20th century symphonies, not just by Shostakovich, but by anyone!!! Hopkins' readings of the poems are stellar and so is the playing of the CSO. Solti's muscular interpretation is not without its quiet, introspective moments especially at the all-important closing pages - beautiful! A must for Solti/CSO fans!!!

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 'Babi Yar' [Hybrid SACD]

Average customer rating:

Haitink is not the only view availabe!!

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 'Babi Yar' [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Bis
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B000IZJ1OI
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Customer Reviews:

Haitink is not the only view availabe!!.......2006-11-19

This an astounding recording! The bass is at least notable. The conducting is very charachteristic. Playing is quite aweome. Haitink and Wigglesworth are quite on par with each other.
I listened to Haitink's recording and compared Rinztler and Rootering. They are both quite good.
In many ways, this symphony does not depend on the bass soloist.
So, in all, this is a great recordding. Regular and sacd.

Shostakovich: Symphony No13, Op113; Yevtushenko: Babi Yar [Recitation]

Average customer rating:

Good But Not Great
An Historically Important Event
Masur is too restrained, but Leiferkus is great
Powerful and dark
Well performed

Shostakovich: Symphony No13, Op113; Yevtushenko: Babi Yar [Recitation]
Yevgeny Yevtushenko , Dmitry Shostakovich , Kurt Masur , and Sergei Leiferkus
Manufacturer: Teldec
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 / From Jewish Folk Poetry - Bernard Haitink
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Sonata No. 2
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Trumpet and Orchestra Op. 35; Concerto No. 2 in F Major for Piano and Orchestra Op. 102; Quintet in G minor for Piano and Strings Op. 57 - Yefim Bronfman (piano), Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Juilliard String Quartet
Schostakowitsch: Symphonie No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93

ASIN: B000000SJ6
Release Date: 1994-05-03

Tracks:

Babi Yar (Recitation)
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': Humor: Allegreto
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
The Loss (Recitation)

Customer Reviews:

Good But Not Great.......2006-08-05

Dmitri Shostakovich's Thirteenth Symphony began as a cantata, growing from Yevgeny Yevtushenko's powerful poem Babi Yar (about the massacre of Jews outside of Kiev during the Second World War that the Soviet government had ignored) into a five movement work. The political controversy of Shostakovich's symphony is an interesting subject, particularly since Yevgeny Mravinsky (who had conducted just about all of the symphony premieres from the Fifth through the Twelveth) refused to take on the Thirteenth with its disapproving political message. Kiril Kondrashin took up the symphony and despite the first two basses pleading ill health and the pressure exerted from the Soviet government the Symphony was performed in December 1962 and had three performances. Subsequently Yevtushenko, under pressure from the government, altered Babi Yar to reflect the idea that more people than Jews where killed by the Nazi's requiring Shostakovich to make an alteration to his score.

The Thirteenth is a deeply felt work that still has a visceral impact more than forty years after it was written. To celebrate the Shostakovich Centennial the Thirteenth was performed at Ravinia in July 2006 to great acclaim. Filling in for the bass was a baritone, and while the performance was excellent, sung with great feeling for the text, lacking was the deep sonorous sounds of a bass. This is what I feel is also missing from this recording. Sergei Leiferkus is one of my favorite singers, who I have enjoyed in concert performances and from recordings, but lacking is the deep bass sound from singers like Vitaly Gromadsky (who performed at the premiere). I also found the first movement underpowered, as if the player were afraid of revealing the darkness of the music.

The outstanding performance of Babi Yar, for me, remains the recording of the second performance (recorded on December 20, 1962 and issued on Russian Disc) of the symphony by Kiril Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic. The New York Philharmonic and Kurt Mazur simply cannot equal the power of this performance. This is a performance that is worth listening to for the excellence of Sergei Leiferkus and the chorus but is not my first choice in conveying the power of Babi Yar.

An Historically Important Event .......2006-01-23

Odd, that despite the paucity of actual performances of this, Shostakovich's intensely felt Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar", there are close to fifty recordings in the literature. This is a work that is difficult to 'get wrong' as the music is straight forward, immensely accessible, and seethingly melodic despite the, at times, fragile topics it surveys. Though this 'live performance reording' with Kurt Mazur conducting the New York Philharmonic and the Men of the New York Choral Artists is not the most triumphant in many ways, it does register as one of the more important available, due to the presence of poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko reciting the title poem before the symphony begins and concluding the performance with another reading of a poem not included in the symphony, 'The Lost', at the end. His resonant voice and sincerity of reading add majesty to the performance.

Shostakovich wrote this work in 1962, under the influence of Yevtushenko's newly published poem 'Babi Yar', a work that sought to awaken the Russian people (and government!) to the quasi-secret horror of 1941 when 33,000 Jews were slaughtered and buried in a mass grave in the ravine known as Babi Yar. Shostakovich was so moved by this poem that he immediately set it to music without Yevtushenko's permission, but when asked ex post facto the poet of course complied. What followed was a collaborative venture with Shostakovich selecting three other poems of the poet ad the poet writing a new poem ('Fear') expressly for the song cycle which was then to become Shostakovich's 13th Symphony. The work met resistance from the Soviet powers, nearly missing a premiere, but the 1962 performance met with passionate embrace by the audience only to have the symphony then silent for decades. It has since become a standard in the plight of Russian history and the dissolution of Communism.

The work is written for Bass soloist and Men's Chorus and a massive orchestra. Here the soloist is Sergei Leiferkus and his dark ominous voice lends itself well to the tenor of the work. The Choral parts are well sung and the overall sweep of the work flows well. If the quiet moments lack subtlety it may be Mazur's vision as he certainly attacks the big moments with gusto.

In a work that should stand alone this listener prefers the omission of the 'pre and post recitation' as the Symphony works its wonders without the addition of what seems to have been an audience-pleasing ploy. This may be one of Shostakovich's lesser-performed works but it is surely one his finest. Thinking that the symphony must always feature the Russian sound of a Russian bass as soloist is unjustified: at a recent performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic guest conducted by James Conlon the scheduled requisite Russian bass fell ill and allowed American bass baritone Nmon Ford to offer a sensitive interpretation of the poetry and a richly warm and senusuously delivered performance. In other words, the symphony stands on its own, and in the wondrous acoustic of Disney Hall the impact of this long but majestic work was overwhelming! Grady Harp, January 06

Masur is too restrained, but Leiferkus is great.......2005-11-11

Other reviewers have described this CD at length. I wish I could concur that birnging together two artistic dissidents (Shostakovich and Yevtushenko) and an anti-Communist champion of freedom (Kurt Masur) resulted in a great event. It's just short of that. Musically, the standout is Sergei Leiferkus, whose agile, insinuating baritone gets much more rage out of the poetry, and more biting wit as well, than the usual heavy bass-baritone.

The recording is excellent, the male chrous does well (though its Russian is enunciated syllable by syllable), yet Masur reins things in too much for maximum impact. For anyone who finds the Shostakovich Thriteenth too morbidly dark, this is a lean, propulsive reaidng that never lingers in the shadows. And the NY Phil. meets the technical deamdns of the work with energetic virtuosity. Fortunately, Leiferkus can carry the composer's heartfelt outcry by himself.

If you want to hear him in the context of a savage orchestral reading, try a little-known BBC Proms recording conducted by Vassily Sinaisky. It has raw power and genuine anger at the horrors of the Babi Yar massacre. Masur's approach seems to be more about making this a showpiece.

Powerful and dark.......2005-09-27

Babi Yar is the name of a site in Kiev, Ukraine, where the mass murder of Jews and other civilians by German Nazis and Ukrainian collaborators took place in 1941. From an era of tragedy and inhumanity, even this event stands out as nearly beyond belief. After the war, Yevgeny Yevtushenko composed a poem in honour of the fallen of Babi Yar, taking the ruling post-Stalinist government to task for the rising anti-Semitism and neglect of remembering the massacre and other attendant atrocities. Yevtushenko's poem was written in 1961; it would not be published in the Soviet Union until 1984.

Dmitri Shostakovich similarly had difficulties with the government of the Soviet Union, being officially suppressed in the 1930s and 1940s; although 'rehabilitated' by the 1960s, his participation in events such as the Babi Yar poem/music composition and performance made many believe he was nonetheless a secret dissident all of his life, working to change the system from within. Despite the official suppression of Yevtushenko's poem, and the forced revisions to it before it could be publically performed together with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 in B Flat minor, the censors did not contain the power of the music.

In fact, the symphony has sometimes been likened to more of a song-sequence than a proper symphony. It has five parts or movements:

I Adagio (Babi Yar)
II Allegretto (Humour)
III Adagio (In the Store)
IV Largo (Fears)
V Allegretto (Career)

The symphony derives its name from the first movement, the Babi Yar poem, with powerful instrumentation and an end in desolation. The remaining movements more explicitly look at reawakening anti-Semitism in the Soviet society in different ways. Throughout much of the piece there are heavy bass sections to make things deeper and darker.

The first movement begin with muted trumpets and horns, foreshadowing the experience to come. Tension builds slowly, progressing relentlessly with a shattering impact in the timpani. In the second section, Humour, there is almost frenetic activity between percussion and woodwind in a dance. The third movement includes lesser-used percussion (castanets, woodblock) mimmicks the kinds of noises one might have in a shop, such as the banging of cans in a shop. In the fourth movement, Fears (a poem Yevtushenko wrote especially for the symphony) opens with a drum roll, followd by a sinister solo brass - it has quite an impact of menace. The fifth movement begins with expressive woodwind, then an intermezzo played on pizzicato strings, followed by threatening brass, and ends with a powerful fugue, returning to the woodwind. Then there is a string, then celeste and bell, and in the end, silence.

This is a powerful performance, incorporating author Yevtushenko himself as the one reciting the poem at the start. Kurt Masur, better known for German Romantic music, nonetheless adds power and expression to this massive interpretation. This recording was made only a few years after Masur succeeded Mehta as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Sergei Leiferkus as bass adds experience and force to the music as well.

This is a powerful composition, a moving performance, and an important intersection between art and history on many different levels.

Well performed.......2005-08-22

Despite the fact that Massur is not one of the great ones
for the music of Shostakovich, he does a wonderful job with
this work. Leiferkus ranks among the very few modern basses
that can actually give a clean clear performance of this work
The New York Philharmonic as always does an outstanding work, and the the men's chorus of the New York Choral Artists, sounds like as if it is chorus of soloists. Beutiful performance, and the poems by Yevtuchenko are as profound as the symphony, no wonder why Shostakovich chose "Babi Yar" as basis of his 13th Symphony.

Average customer rating:

Without Question the most Profound Performance of Babi Yar on Records!

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 2; Symphony No. 12
William Bolcom - Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake) / Slatkin, University of Michigan School of Music
Shostakovich: Symphonies #3 '1st of May' & #14 - Mariss Jansons, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Shostakovich: Symphony #4 - Mariss Jansons/Bavarian Radio Symphony
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

ASIN: B0007D0AUU
Release Date: 2005-08-02

Tracks:

Babi Yar: Adagio
Humor: Allegretto
In The Store: Adagio
Fears: Adagio
A Career: Allegretto

Amazon.com

"There is no monument above Babi Yar," Yevgeny Yevtushenko laments in his poem about the Ukrainian ravine where the Germans shot thousands of Jews in 1941. Twenty years later, he and Shostakovich created a memorial more lasting and searing than any marble headstone. Yevtushenko's poems express fiery political protest and youthful idealism and, as in other "choral" symphonies, the words and voices add immeasurably to the emotional impact of the music. Scored for solo bass, male chorus (singing in unison) and a large orchestra, each of the symphony's five movements is set to a poem depicting an aspect of life under Stalin; the music complements and heightens the poetry's atmosphere, mood, and narrative intensity. "Humor" and "A Career" are vintage Shostakovich Scherzos: sardonic, grotesque, with robust, almost vulgar irregular dance rhythms and a sophisticated fugal section - the gallows-humor of despair. "In the Store" is a lament-laden hymn to the hardships of Russian women; "Fears" is a spooky, ominous, frightening description of the pall of dread hanging over everyone. The longest, most wrenching movement, of course, is "Babi Yar." Dark, mournful, often wild, it is an outcry of the helpless down-trodden against the inhumanity of the powerful, but the poet's attempt to identify with the suffering Jewish victims by being a "true Russian" is not entirely convincing. The symphony represents the composer at the height of his technical and expressive power. Solo and choral passages alternate, the orchestration is stunning, full of dynamic and timbral variety and contrast. The performance is splendid; the German orchestra and chorus sound as authentic and involved as the Russian soloist and conductor. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Without Question the most Profound Performance of Babi Yar on Records!.......2006-01-26

Though there are many excellent recordings of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 'Babi Yar' available, this new recording by Mariss Jansons is the crowning achievement. Jansons is nearing completion of the entire Shostakovich cycle and this installment is by far the finest in a fine set. Though some may find this symphony episodic (it has been compared to Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' as a symphonic song cycle1), Jansons makes the work intelligently cohesive. He finds the essence of each of the five movements and weaves the similarities of orchestration and poetry tightly. His vision is at one with Shostakovich and Yevtushenko.

The Bavarian Radio Symphony (Jansons is the Music Director of this orchestra) plays with complete command of the obstacles. The first desk playing is top notch and the 'sound' is as Russian as is needed for the success of the work. Jansons wisely selected Russian opera star Sergei Aleksashkin as soloist: his vocal quality is rich and dark and completely right for these Yevtushenko poems. His range of emotion is stunning. And completing the overall sound is the very fine Men's chorus from the Bavarian Radio Chorus. The Sonics are superb.

Hands down this is the recording of choice for this extraordinary symphony. It should receive the Grammy for Orchestral Recording! Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, January 06