Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (Vasily Petrenko)

Information

Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich

1. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: I. Allegretto - Allegro non troppo
2. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro
3. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: III. Lento - Largo -
4. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: IV. Lento - Allegro molto - Adagio - Largo - Presto
5. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Allegretto -
6. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Più mosso -
7. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Andante -
8. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Allegro -
9. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Andante -
10. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major 'The First of May', Op. 20: Moderato 'V pervoy, pervoye maya'

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
Date: 2011
Label: Naxos
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572396

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Review

Unless I have lost count, this is the fifth release in Vasily Petrenko’s Shostakovich series for Naxos. Not one of them has been less than recommendable, and this new one is no different, although collectors are entitled to their preferences and prejudices, of course.

I’d really like to play the First Symphony for a lecture hall filled with freshmen and sophomores from my university, and ask them, “Listen to what somebody composed when he was your age! Why can’t you do that instead of spending the weekend drinking cheap beer and playing World of Warcraft?” I’m afraid it would fall on deaf ears, though. This would be an impressive work from a composer of any age, but it is doubly so for someone who still was a conservatory student. It seems to play itself. I must have heard 15–20 different recordings and live performances of this symphony, and none of them have been unsatisfactory. I cut my teeth on Eugene Ormandy’s recording of this (still available in Sony Classical’s “Great Performances” series), and what Ormandy has going for him is the superb playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a more straightforward, kinetic interpretation. In my experience, Petrenko is not someone who distorts the music he conducts by imposing a lot of tempo and dynamic changes on it. Still, this reading is a little more brash and changeable than Ormandy’s, who gives this music gravitas , or an emotional depth perhaps beyond its years.

The Third Symphony is more infrequently played, not just because it impractically requires a chorus during its last five minutes (and to praise socialism, no less), but also because it (paradoxically) is less mature than the First Symphony. Many of Shostakovich’s admirers shrug it off (with the Second and 12th symphonies) without much comment, or with faint apologies. Without wanting to banish it from the composer’s symphonic canon, I’ve never found much enthusiasm for it. Petrenko’s reading is so full of good humor—and perhaps a little sarcasm—that I find myself enjoying this symphony more than usual. I don’t want to propose a revisionist interpretation (e.g., “Shostakovich was actually making fun of May Day celebrations”), but perhaps there’s an Ivesian imp at work here, a desire to be iconoclastic. In 1930, when this symphony appeared, it may have been possible to write music that appealed to the bourgeoisie as long as you gave it a proletarian hook. Petrenko’s total timing of 31: 10 is in the middle of the pack, but the colorful playing of the Liverpudlians makes it all seem very bright and energetic. The chorus also is spirited, but not coarse. The only thing that threw me off was the booklet’s translation of the Russian word fabriki as “fabrics.” Surely that should be “factories”? (I am not sure how a bolt of corduroy, for example, or even serge, could organize a May Day parade.)

This series has been notable for the rare photos of the composer it has used on its booklet covers. Naxos has come up with a real winner this time: The impossibly teenaged composer, wearing a beret, is seen holding a cat, who looks none too pleased with the situation. Nevertheless, cat fanciers appreciate the suggestion that Shostakovich was one of us! 

-- Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/shostakovich-symphonies-nos-1-3-0
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Sept11/Shostakovich_1_3_8572396.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Jan12/Shostakovich_sys13_8572396.htm
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/8572396.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/8391637/Shostakovich-Symphonies-Nos-1-and-3-CD-review.html
http://www.allmusic.com/album/shostakovich-symphonies-nos-1-3-the-first-of-may-mw0002113181
http://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.572396&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphonies-Nos-First-May/dp/B004KDO2GG

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Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) was a Russian composer and pianist, and a prominent figure of 20th-century music. Shostakovich achieved fame in the Soviet Union, but later had a complex and difficult relationship with the government. Shostakovich's music is characterized by sharp contrasts, elements of the grotesque, and ambivalent tonality; the composer was also heavily influenced by the neo-classical style pioneered by Igor Stravinsky, and (especially in his symphonies) by the post-Romanticism associated with Gustav Mahler.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Shostakovich

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Vasily Petrenko (born 7 July 1976, Leningrad, USSR) is a Russian conductor. Petrenko studied conducting principally under Ravil Martynov, also learning from Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Since 2006 he has been principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013. He is noted for his recordings of Shostakovich symphonies on Naxos and Rachmaninov on EMI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Petrenko

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