I think Shostakovich's astonishing orchestrations are what keeps the symphony interesting. Not enough has been said about Shostakovich's orchestrations.

One of my favorites of Shostakovich! The 11th is among those pieces that you want to hear in a concert hall at least once in your lifetime if you have a chance. The massacre episode and finale's coda are the real earquake. The symphony appeals (almost) to everyone, even to those who are not very familiar with classical music, mostly because, as mentioned, it's very narrative. Nevertheless, the music form is strict that allows a listener to follow the music effortlessly.

I'm glad every time I see a video of Mr. Hurwitz about a symphony of Shostakovich, because I know it will be an insightful view into the work itself and a rollercoaster of emotions about the choices he makes for the best (or his best) interpretations. I have his book about Shostakovich, but for an amateur, not classically trained, like me, these videos are so much easier to follow. I just want them longer. A half an hour long video of Mr. Hurwitz talking about a symphony of Shostakovich will always be too short for me. Symphony no 11 it’s one of my favorites of Shostakovich’s, even if it’s somehow unique in its conception and atmosphere. For sure, I agree that it’s “picturesque”, somehow static and cinematic at the same time, but I like it just for that. I’m an “ultra-orthodox” and I always choose Russian conceptions first when it comes to Shostakovich’s symphonies. My favorites are: Petrenko (Liverpool SO), then Mravinsky (Leningrad SO) and Barshai (WDR). I tend to like Rozhdestvensky’s over-dramatic style of interpretation of some of Shostakovich’ works, but I think he’s style doesn’t fit this symphony. Also, for me, Kondrashin is too quick to fully get the atmosphere of this work. Thank you Mr. Hurwitz for all these videos about Shostakovich’ symphonies and please make them longer.

The Leopold Stokowski / Houston Symphony recording from 1959 is still my favorite performance.

@ArmatekAutomation

9 ай бұрын

By far. Stokowsky clearly pulled a miracle performance out of the Houston on this one.

You're totally right about it being cinematic. I once heard the 4th movement accompanying a film of Japanese kamikaze suicide planes attacking an American battleship. This was at the infamous Yasukuni Shrine Museum in Tokyo which honours dead warriors (a kind of Japanese Valhalla). They certainly know something about "fatal" music to die for. Now I'm just waiting for some Chinese composer to write a symphony about 1989 (1905 relived, but in Beijing), but I don't think its going to happen since its a "non-event".

What is necessary to be heard, and usually we do not get it, is the oscillation of the terminal chimes between major and minor key, terminating in the minor one.

On your recom, just listened to the absolutely crushing interpretation by Berglung with the Bournemouth Symphony. Had witnessed a great Proms performance a few years ago that introduced me to this particular Shostakovich Symphony, but you are absolutely right: the Bergland measured, firm, controlled and incredibly powerful interpret just blows you away. Breathless.

I was introduced to this symphony by watching the orginial "Cosmos" program in the early 1980's . They used the First Movement to depict an alien landscape. It was of course the Stowkowski/ Houston S.O recording on Capitol Records. I now have the Barshai, and the Nelsons/BSO recordings.

Last night I heard Petrenko conduct this with the RLPO in Liverpool, so I was pleasantly surprised that KZread gave me this as a recommended video! Also performing were the 15 year-old Christian Li in Tchaikovsky's fiddle concerto. Quite a night!

Terrific choices, as nearly always! Fact: Shostakovich was present at the Cluytens recording sessions and gave his blessing to the final product. One caveat, and this happens in too many of the recordings: the sound engineers don't let the final bells overhang until the sound disappears on its own, aggravatingly turning down the volume and cutting off the effect. Why?

terrific review, David. I was just extremely fortunate to hear live the Rice University Shepherd School Symphony under Maestro Larry Rachliff play this symphony. Although I more or less "knew" it from recordings, this performance absolutely blew me away. All of the nuances you highlight in your discussion of recorded performances made absolute sense in light of what I had just heard live. All I can say, it was a musical experience unlike any other (except for a Bernstein live of the 14th Symphony years ago). I think, judging from your comments and analysis, you would have been thrilled by this performance. Rachliff is probably the greatest orchestral teacher in America, and when it comes to scores like this, I doubt you've heard more committed playing -- or empathetic conducting! -- on any of the discs you recommend.

The "massacre" part is so well done. Even people who listen only to the simplest pop get the tension and overall feel.

Thank you for this; just listened to the first movement of the Jarvi performance on DG - wow!! Absolutely gorgeous!

The Stoki live ‘58 in Moscow is utterly gripping.. even with slightly crappy sound…

@donaldjones5386

5 ай бұрын

Yes.. In all these comments not enough about the sound of this recording (Stoky) which is now dated. I'm not too fond of the orchestral playing, either.

Mravinsky with leningrad for me The strings on the massacre is tremendous. Nobody else make the strings sound like that

I discovered Shostakovich because of this symphony and this Berglund version. The father of a friend of mine played it on an audiophile fair. What a revelatory SHOCK! Now, I cannot count the number of SCH symphonies integrals I have :-)

I love No. 11 because it is so epic

Thanks for presenting a welcome rehabilitation of this symphony. I love the ending too, with that last bell echoing. I really sense the feeling of "Watch it! Revenge is coming soon." I agree that Shostakovich tends to be misunderstood by many Western critics who dismiss his program works and insist on "decoding" many of his other works (i.e. talk like "See, Shostakovich really is trying to be ironic, not serious or sincere, but you're too naive too decode that". It's unfortunate that this issue unnecessarily clouds a proper appreciation of the music (and the artist) on their own terms.

I first heard this piece with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Semyon Bychkov and it was one of the most thrilling concerts ever. The moment in the 2nd movement when the craziness suddenly stops and that fifth in the strings is heard...the intensity had built so high that we all let out a gasp when it stopped. I love his recording as well. I heard Rostropovich conduct it as well and that middle part of the 2nd movement with the gunshots was so slow, the whole thing died and it didn't have the same effect at all.

This is the one Petrenko/Liverpool I won’t touch. It’s a shame. I love it… right up to the finale. The bells are too quiet. And (and this feels petty, but necessary) whiffing the ending to me ruins it all. I swear by the WDR Köln/Bychkov version. Takes the first movement slow enough to get the agonising coldness and stillness but not so slow as to be dull. Wrings beautiful emotion out of the Adagio and the Cor Anglais solo. And has proper tuned church bells (not tubular bells as originally requested, which I think struggle to be heard) for the final which enhance the sheer terror.

Yes, Berglund left some marvelous recordings from Bournemouth. The Cluytens is also worth honorable mention, though the Testament issue (ST-1099) has about a minute in the last movement (at about the 10 minute mark) that collapses to MONO. It would be interesting to note if the Warner issue is similarly compromised (because that part of the original tape was lost) or has since been corrected.

You are oh so right once again! Berglund with Bournemouth is quite the experience and a true artistic statement. That's how such masterful works should be performed. Really intense.

One of Dimitri's most bombastic works, I love this symphony.

I believe it was the Storgards version of #11 that you reviewed in the beginning. And yes, it seems to be made of cement. Really drags!

For those who stream, Laazarev is easily found on Spotify. This is a fantastic symphony, and it just hits you with the sheer power of what Shostakovich had to say. I saw it live once in Baltimore a few years ago, first half was Rachmaninov Bells and Rachmaninov 4th piano concerto. That is an orchestra that still even after Temirkanov left, (Alsop was conducting the program) knows exactly how to play Russian music as well as anyone. It was a hair raising performance that just left you exhausted at the end.

@AlexMadorsky

2 жыл бұрын

The Lazarov is on Qobuz as well. Listened this morning and I agree with our host it is top-flight.

@MDK2_Radio

2 жыл бұрын

Alsop is a good Shostakovich conductor. I saw her lead Colorado in his 5th symphony in the 90s and it was terrific.

On KZread only, live recording with Thomas Sondergaard and the National Orchestra of Wales, a BBC Proms performance. Fabulous sensitive playing; real not tubular bells at the end.

I really love the Rostropovich/LSO recording! It's glacial. That's the point. Freezing cold. The 2nd movement is perfectly played, as is the 3rd and the 4th. but who cares about the 4th anyway? I bought that recording from my paperboy wages. I worked for that! I had the Haitik/Concertgebouw 8th a week before.

The Oleg Caetani version can be found on Spotify.

I fully agree with your admiration for Berglund and the Bournemouth. I have listened to many versions over the years, possess the Kondrashin (...?) and the Barshai (!) versions... and discovered only today this extraordinary performance. It had long been due, because everything else was so underwhelming. I remember buying the score and checking whether those other conductors were missing something (or I was just missing that the score was not that interesting after all - you know, in the times that somehow Shostakovich was being considered a great composer by the wrong persons)... but no, the score was highly interesting and as you point out, it is devoid of any irony or aloofness but strikes one by its literalness, sincerity, seriousness. Gradually I realised that all the shrieking dissonances were being underplayed by those conductors in order to make the melody lines and only the melody lines stand out. They turned the dissonances into mere embellishments (enuglyishments, rather) of the verrry tonal melodies, and that was just wrong. As you know better than I do, there is a lot of Mahler in this symphony - I asked myself: why doesn’t Thomas Sanderling perform this score like he did with Mahler’s 6th? The 11th’s grandiose finale where Shostakovich pushes the army train sideways up the tonalities without modulations but through polytonal overlaps, where will I finally hear the rails being wrecked? It is with Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Orchestra that it happens. You know the 10-tone chord in Mahler’s 10th: it is here that I can hear similar chords, and, honestly, I plan to plunge into the score again and try and find the 10-tone chords, or maybe 11- or even (it would be very much Shostakovich to do so) a 12-tone chord. Also Berglund’s percussion is shattering: it hammers the pain into our souls as it should. Oddly, it is also the only performance in which the final chords allow us to hear faintly the major third, instead of open fifths (or am I mistaken)? But it is like hidden, deafened by the percussion and the rest of the orchestra. And then unsurprisingly, it is the other performances that give a stale "major" taste to the ending, whereas this one keeps you tense until beyond the end. (Less is more.) I have one question: on the box it says that the recording is of 1980. But then, an odd mention follows (I have the box you showed us) pointing to the year 1975! Would you mind catching a glance on that?, because due to a scratch on the paper I cannot read was comes after this mention. I thought it was maybe recorded in 75 and only published in 80.. Thank you for your excellent comment on this Symphony, as for all your comments and in general for the enthusiasm with which you serve excellent performances of great works!

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your very thoughtful comments. The performance was recorded in 1978, according to the information I have (I took it from the Berglund ICON Box, as the most recent info).

@michelleclerc3857

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you Mr Hurwitz. I have the EMI Records box (with a somewhat Sibeliusian 6th and the two piano concertos with Cristina Ortiz - the recording of the 2nd convincing me for the first time of the piece’s great value, while for the first's value no convincing was ever necessary) and what do I read? "P (in a circle: publication?) 1980 and *1975 Original sound recording" (without explanation of the asterisk). Strange, is it not?

Hey Dave, Thanks for yet another interesting and informative video. May I add Ashkenazy (Decca) and Sanderling (Sonny) to your excellent choices. Many thanks Noam

If you can say "Rozhdestvenski" without any hesitation, I guess you could with "Cluytens" too. I love those videos when you begin with a talk on the work itself before talking about the recordings. It is always imformative.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

You guessed wrong. Rozhdestvensky is very easy to pronounce.

Thanks for this great review. For a long time the 11th has been my favourite Shostakovich symphony and I felt a bit guilty about it, but not any more. The first recording I heard of it was Berglund's and it impressed me hugely and still does, although Petrenko is very fine too. Recently I heard the Stokowski / Houston version and to my cloth ears the timpani B natural in the first movement sounds flat; has anyone else noticed this, or is it my imagination?

Grew up with the Stokowski/Houston/Capitol LP set which was something of a sonic treat in its day (the 1960's), but Dave is correct about moving on. I have been enjoying the Nelsons/BSO/DG offering of No. 11 as of late, which received a mostly favorable review in Classics Today.

@bbailey7818

2 жыл бұрын

Remember how the Stokowski was issued on 4 lp sides by Capitol? Plenty of headroom since no side was longer than 15 minutes or so.

Personally, I think the 11th is probably Shostakovich's most underrated symphony. Rostropovich/National SO was the very first recording I ever heard of this work, and it still reigns supreme for me. The way the bells continue to reverberate at the end after the orchestra stops is haunting.

Dear David, the almost perfect (Dutch) pronunciation of 'Cluytens' for a non-Dutch/Flemish speaker builds up as follows: where 'uy' is written, start with an "uh..." as in "duh", like you are hesitating or thinking very hard, then swiftly round it off with an 'ee' as in 'bee'. The 'ee' part is really short, just there to complement the sound.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

What about the "tens" part?

@markokassenaar4387

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide That should be more like "uh", so it'd sound like "tuhns". To my knowledge, there is not really a vowel in the English language that corresponds 100% with the Dutch/Flemish "uh", but the way 'ea' sounds in 'early' comes pretty close.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

@@markokassenaar4387 Aha! Let's see what happens.

Dave thsee talks are wonderful though you mentioned it I love the Alpine Symphony flaws and all! I need to get to know no.11 my grandmother left Odessa, 1904!

Lazarev I found it on you tube, and now I will be trying to find it on CD

I couldn't find the Dausgaard one. I found a Bychkov/BPO, but the strings are too clean...

What did you think of James DePreist with the Helsinki Philharmonic on Delos?

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

I used to like it when there weren't too many other options. It's not bad, but it's not really competitive with the best.

@markdecker2112

2 жыл бұрын

This was the version that introduced me to the piece.

The Stokowski cd is a thing of wonder and great power and beauty. Anything less good like the Storgard just wont do but a number of recordings have aimed very high.

David, I have a question that is really important for me, how you judge a recording good or bad? It is about giving emotion? You should if you can and want tell something about your ideas about how do you appreciate a recording, I heard and follow advice and I like those you tell us but how you choose them? Thanks in advance.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

I've actually done that. Check out this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/dKSbpJabpNG7drQ.html

“Not so much socialism, just realism” (about socialism). I think that is exactly the right way to think about the political dimension of Shostakovich’s life and career, and why he inevitably faced so much danger from the regime he never overtly opposed or denounced. He was a humanist and a realist, and as much as those values were theoretically consonant with the values of the Revolution, when a true human realist applies them uncompromisingly to the society in which he works, the result will never fully please those who wield power, even when they do it in the name of those values.

Great comparison with the Alpine Symphony. I love both pieces (maybe too much) but am not swept away by forward movement

What do you think of Mariss Jansons' recording with Philly?

I've actually been listening to the recording of Michael Sanderling with dresden Phil. It's little talked about I seriously find it to be a breathtaking performance.

@DavesClassicalGuide

Жыл бұрын

Little talked about because little available--Sony has never promoted these recordings at all.

@rickzhang2288

Жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you Dave and to be honest I am so surprised that you'd reply this fast... Thanks again.

An almost forgotten but magnificent old performance: Franz Konwitschny conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden (1959). Blazing intensity. By the way, I disagree with the usual characterization of 11 as "a film score without a film." Though vividly pictorial, no film score I know offers a solid hour of such brilliantly integrated music, not just the re-appearances of the Palace Square music. For example, notice that at the most violent section of the 2nd movement, the theme is actually that from the Palace Square opening, but transformed from conveying eerie stillness to conveying the brutal slaughter.

The Stokowski was my introduction to the work and I played it over and over so he must have done something right though I've come to prefer others, including Berglund. Jerome Toobin in Agitato has a hilarious story about Stokie giving the US premiere with the Symphony of the Air. A personal minor glitch for me in the 1st mvt is that one of the themes bears an unfortunate resemblance to "Bella figlia dell'amore" in the Rigoletto quartet.

@Listenerandlearner870

2 жыл бұрын

I love what Stokowski does with the piece. Byshkov, V Petrenko, Nelsons. Most performances are worthwhile.

@bbailey7818

2 жыл бұрын

@@mikepanick9362 On two LPs all four sides yet! Back then a major stereo demonstration set.

I think it’s pretty hard to take the Shostakovich out of this piece, but I guess if you want to be a hard liner about how this piece is supposed to sound obviously it’s your channel. But the score is the score, and you yourself say that it needs to be presented with a variety of subtle touches to make it work. Stokowski/Houston is one of the most commercially successful recordings probably in all of the DSCH catalogue, so it seems like he must have done something right, given that (you yourself say) the piece requires an interpretative frame to work. Either him or - the engineers: for me, hearing the last movement remains one of the most memorable moments sonically of my early classical listening life. It’s definitely my reference, so perhaps I don’t know the pure truth of the score (I went through the same thing with Bernstein/VPO and Mahler 5, but then that still remains a top version for me), but I think you give Stokowski short shrift here.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Have you heard the other versions that I discuss? Commercial success and musical success are two very different things, and I don't see from this comment how you are really in a position to speak to either (which doesn't mean that you are not--only that you haven't explained how you are). I say this not to be disparaging--only to stress the fact that these videos are about close, comparative listening, and not just about one's personal preference.

Shostakovich didn't produce this glorious work (which I've loved for many years) until a year or two after the fiftieth anniversary of the 1905 massacre, and I thought that it has been widely believed for quite some time that what he was really depicting was the onslaught of Soviet tanks on Budapest in 1956 and that his use of 1905 in the title was a mere smokescreen.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

We have no evidence for that.

... and there's a concert performance on KZread given on 23 Feb 2023 by the KBS Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eliahu Inbal in which the bells sound only G and B natural at the very end, no B flat at all! If it's a mistake it's a very bad one and if it's intentional then it makes no sense at all.

Your humble correspondent had the adventure of hearing the work with additional verissimilitude. During a live performance by a provincial Korean orchestra, as part of a month-long orchestral festival held at the Seoul Arts Center, a hapless percussionist, in a dramatic moment in the 2nd movement wherein the score instructed the need for the clash of two cymbals, one of the hapless percussionists lost control of one of the cymbals, allowing it to fly out of his hand altogether, reach a considerable height (easily two metres or more above the stage), then smash down on the stage in a predictably devastating impact. For this audience member, the horrible arc of the cymbal's flight through the air, with its inevitable ear-thumping final impact, was cringingly predictable.... One grim percussion story deserves another---> at a regular TSO (Toronto S.O.) subscription concert, the bass drum player got just a little bit too enthusiastic in the 3rd movement of Tschaik #6, to the point where he inflicted a massive blow that ripped the drum-skin in pieces...! To be honest, i cannot recall if there were any remedies / options available for concluding the symphony...^^

Great choices! No Stokowski?

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

I talked about it. Were you listening?

@Listenerandlearner870

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide David talks about. it. It is tremendous, wonderfully interpreted. There is so much heart and expression to it.

@b1i2l336

2 жыл бұрын

@@DavesClassicalGuide I should learn to complete my sentences for a clearer meaning. I meant, no Stokowski as a "favorite?"

Berglund sounds intriguing but since I already have Barshai and Cluytens I will stand pat.

I’m surprised. I really thought the choice recording David was going to say was Haitink and the Concertgebouw (even with its crappy tam-tam).

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

It's a bore.

@MrNathan2011

2 жыл бұрын

I was surprised too. I love the Haitink recording!

@brtherjohn

2 жыл бұрын

Haitink is hardly a bore! He can be rather cool if not cold in his performances. But that temperament actually works to his advantage in this austere reading. The pianissimos are chilling and climaxes are overwhelming - not mention - the recording quality is the best of the best! As with the 12th, the sonics are spectacular! (I still prefer Stoki in the final minutes however, with the sizzling snare drum balanced forwardly...)

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

@@brtherjohn Sorry. It's a bore. Great playing and sonics, though, as you say.

@victorjuhasz9078

7 ай бұрын

@brtherjohn Haitink's performance with the Concertgebouw took me by surprise. I did not know who was playing when I first heard it working in my studio and was really shook up by the intensity (which it seems David obviously did not feel). David's negative reaction makes me want to listen to it again and see what I was missing, or not. I agree on the Rostropovich- thought it would be great having a Russian treatment and found myself wondering when it was going to take off. And Mravinsky was also a surprising disappointment; a very clipped, removed reading. I enjoy David's reviews, and have picked up a number of CDs based on his recommendations. Just listened to the Berglund and like it. Unfortunately, I don't have $300+ to buy a copy on Amazon. One of my favorite symphonies, a real throat grabber.

I really dont get the Petrenko enthusiasm. He was the chief conductor in Oslo for several years, and his Shostakovich performances was so bad. I have heard Lazarev live with the same orchestra back in the days (no 11). Now that was something different 😊 Mravinsky should also be mentioned.

Is new classical music dead? Are there Beethoven and Bach out there?

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

Sure, but it's up to you to find them.

"They want socialist realism, I'll give them socialist realism" - sums up the fifth, too.

I used to love all these revolutionary Shostakovich symphonies (11, 12) as a kid. But know I feel all of them are lacking of his own originality. It must had begun after the 9th because of the disapproval from the official communist party and lasted until the 13th where he kind of returned to his own unique voice, a period which would last until the very last 15th.

@DavesClassicalGuide

2 жыл бұрын

The 10th is a masterpiece too.

It’s funny that you can pronounce « Rozhdestvenky » more easily than « Cluytens » 😆😉

@DavesClassicalGuide

Жыл бұрын

Russian is far easier to pronounce.

"Clittins" can't be right... can it? LOL