Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: LSO Live
Catalogue: LSO0878
Release: 2023
Size: 2.21 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141
01. I. Allegretto
02. II. Adagio – Largo – Adagio – Largo
03. III. Allegretto
04. IV. Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio – Allegretto
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
05. I. Largo
06. II. Allegro
07. III. Presto
In a continuation of his symphony cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda conducts two curious and contrasting symphonies by Dmitri Shostakovich – the Sixth and Fifteenth.
Following the success of his Fifth Symphony, all eyes were on Shostakovich to create a work that would measure up to its predecessor. The Sixth was originally intended as an immense musical monument to Lenin, to be woven with heroic melodies and folk songs. Instead, his audiences were surprised to hear a quite different result – a contemplative, restrained first movement that morphs puzzlingly into a ferocious ending.
The Fifteenth is another of Shostakovich’s musical enigmas, with inexplicable quotes from music by Rossini, Glinka and Wagner dotted throughout, alongside references to his own music from his younger years. Written in 1970-71 when the composer’s health was declining, this final symphony is one of fond reflection.
Together these unconventional works showcase Shostakovich’s range as a composer – from wild exuberance to quiet introspection.
The Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A minor, Op. 141, was recorded soon after its composition in 1971 with the composer’s son Maxim conducting. Many recordings have followed that dark reading in considering the work a testimony in the face of death, and the great Paul Griffiths, in the notes for this work, emphasizes the dark side. However, that is not the only way to look at it. For one thing, the symphony contains various quotations, and the one from Rossini’s William Tell Overture in the first movement is quite witty. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda, leading the London Symphony Orchestra in the latest installment of the group’s Shostakovich symphony cycle, takes the work fairly briskly and brings out a playful side. Even the second-movement Adagio sections are simply chorale-like, not funereal. It is an unorthodox reading, but the debate over how autobiographical Shostakovich’s music was meant to be will not end here, and Noseda’s execution is terrific, with accurate balances and beautiful string work from the orchestra. A bonus is the presence of the Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54, of 1939, not one of Shostakovich’s more frequently played symphonic works. The original audience loved it, and this is easy to understand; the finale, especially in Noseda’s crackling reading, is a real foot-tapper, but Stalinist critics noted disapprovingly the more experimental aspects of the work, with its unusual structure with each movement quicker than the last. Noseda’s rather astringent reading catches these as well. Those who have enjoyed Noseda’s cycle will find this recording quite satisfying, even if it may seem to lack a certain quantum of Russian gloom.