Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9; Violin Concerto No. 1 (2015)

Leaving aside Valery Gergiev's dubious credentials as an interpreter of music that took aim at Russian oppression, these are fine Shostakovich performances. Gergiev has recorded the Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70, before, but the clockwork-like precision of the Mariinsky Orchestra here is hard to beat. But the real attraction here is the pungency of the pairing of the symphony and the Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99 (also numbered Op. 77, for reasons whose relevance will soon be made clear). Despite the later opus ... Read More

Leaving aside Valery Gergiev's dubious credentials as an interpreter of music that took aim at Russian oppression, these are fine Shostakovich performances. Gergiev has recorded the Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70, before, but the clockwork-like precision of the Mariinsky Orchestra here is hard to beat. But the real attraction here is the pungency of the pairing of the symphony and the Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 99 (also numbered Op. 77, for reasons whose relevance will soon be made clear). Despite the later opus number of the concerto, these two works were written within a few years of each other after the end of World War II. Both irritated the Soviet authorities, but the extremely inward Violin Concerto (the first of the composer's works to contain the D-S-C-H motto), with the violin often playing the role of a kind of irrelevant gadfly nicely caught here by soloist Leonidas Kavakos, was quickly evaluated by the composer himself as too dangerous in the new Stalinist mood and was withdrawn.... Read Less

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2015, Mariinsky UPC: 822231852421 SACD See All