Shostakovich

Tyson · « **on:** 28 Aug 2008, 07:03 am »

Here's a composer for the modern soul! Bitter, sarcastic, brilliant. Nothing can come closer to our times than the genius of this composer. Not for the feint of heart. I've got several complete cycles of his symphonic music, and I recommend 2 cycles above all for 2 different but complementary views of this enigma of a composer. For the "fun-house/circus/insane-asylum/razor-blades" view I cannot recommend Kondrashin highly enough. Barbed wire intensity! And for a more pathos/deep/human view, Barshai is your man. Both cycles are worthwhile. Barshai has better overall sound quality but Kondrashin has unmatched intensity. You really have not lived until you've heard both.

For his other major set of works, the String Quartets, I also recommend 2 cycles. First, the Borodins are very similar in approach to Kondrashin in really bringing out the feverish insanity of the music written here. But a very good alternative is by the Emerson Quartet with better sound quality and much more unbridled fury in their playing. Either way you cannot go wrong with this music, and you really, really should hear both sets before you pass from this life.

Randy · « **Reply #1 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 05:44 pm »

Three Shostakovich CDs I've enjoyed come from Chailly on Decca, called the Jazz Album, the Dance Album, and the Film Album. Definitely the lighter,colorful side of Shostakovich. Recommended.

rajacat · « **Reply #2 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 06:09 pm »

I've been happy with these quartets but I've haven't heard the other offerings. The sound quality is excellent and the price was right.

ted_b · « **Reply #3 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 06:38 pm »

I'm not a big classical fan (not that I don't like it, I just don;t know it well). But, oine of my faves, for whatever reason, is Shostakovich's second movement Allegro) of his Symph No. 5, opus 47. Wow! I love it every time i hear it, and was brought up on the Telarc version (Maazel with my own Cleve Orch). Dunno if it's considered good, but it's what I know to be that piece, and any that I hear that are more plodding or more light-hearted just don't do it for me. I have a couple surround DVD-A's that I've yet to hear (Rostropovich, Oleg Caetani) but reveiws say the new Pentatone is very nice.

So, what is considered the best sonically and/or artistically of No 5?
Thx
Ted

richidoo · « **Reply #4 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 10:24 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 8 Jun 2009, 06:38 pm

So, what is considered the best sonically and/or artistically of No 5?

This one is dynamite! I listen to it all the time. Kreitzberg is a great conductor and pianist. Sonics are breathtaking. Crank it! The 9th is more interesting and enigmatic, extremely melodic. This is a desert island disc for me.

As for the Quartets, the set on Chandos is very good. The Piano Quintet by Vermeer Quartet on Naxos is awesome. Jupiter Quartet (my favorite) plays the hell out of the 3rd Quartet. Another desert island disc.

ted_b · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 11:41 pm »

yep, that's the Pentatone I was referring to in my post. Thanks.

GDeering · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 03:59 am »

Quote from: rajacat on 8 Jun 2009, 06:09 pm

I've been happy with these quartets but I've haven't heard the other offerings. The sound quality is excellent and the price was right.

Please, please, try another quartet's performance! There three Borodin cycles to choose from, pick one (my favorite is the second cycle, which is the first digital cycle) I have some of the Fitzwilliam on LP, they are way too English (which is a sound I usually like in other music). On the positive side, now that you know the quartets in one dimension you will be all the more happy when you get to hear the other two!

I am not a fan of the Emersons - not because I think one has to be Russian to play Shostakovich, but because they miss the color and buoyancy of (most) of the quartets. I have heard them play Shostakovich in concert and enjoyed it, but on CD, well it's like the Julliard?s in Bartok, the attack meter is set to "11."

Gregg

ted_b · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 04:07 am »

Quote from: GDeering on 11 Jun 2009, 03:59 am

Please, please, try another quartet's performance! There three Borodin cycles to choose from, pick one (my favorite is the second cycle, which is the first digital cycle) I have some of the Fitzwilliam on LP, they are way too English (which is a sound I usually like in other music). On the positive side, now that you know the quartets in one dimension you will be all the more happy when you get to hear the other two!

I am not a fan of the Emersons - not because I think one has to be Russian to play Shostakovich, but because they miss the color and buoyancy of (most) of the quartets. I have heard them play Shostakovich in concert and enjoyed it, but on CD, well it's like the Julliard?s in Bartok, the attack meter is set to "11."

Gregg

These Gregg?

Tyson · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 04:25 am »

ted, I'm not Gregg, but I have both sets, and the one you pictured is the one to get. Plus, the Piano Quintet with Richter on Piano is a very substantial bonus!

Borodin's 2 sets really set the standard and are the bedrock performances for this music (IMO), and others such as the Emersons, Cleveland, etc, are merely supplements to this.

Anyone that thinks classical music is boring, I just play the Borodin's version of Shostakovich's 8th string quartet. Usual reactions are "WTF was THAT?!"

rajacat · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 06:08 am »

Quote from: GDeering on 11 Jun 2009, 03:59 am

Quote from: rajacat on 8 Jun 2009, 06:09 pm
I've been happy with these quartets but I've haven't heard the other offerings. The sound quality is excellent and the price was right.

Please, please, try another quartet's performance! There three Borodin cycles to choose from, pick one (my favorite is the second cycle, which is the first digital cycle) I have some of the Fitzwilliam on LP, they are way too English (which is a sound I usually like in other music). On the positive side, now that you know the quartets in one dimension you will be all the more happy when you get to hear the other two!

I am not a fan of the Emersons - not because I think one has to be Russian to play Shostakovich, but because they miss the color and buoyancy of (most) of the quartets. I have heard them play in concert and enjoyed it, but on CD, well it's like the Julliard?s in Bartok, the attack meter is set to "11."

Gregg

Thanks, I'll get a set of the Borodins to try. Actually the Fitzwilliam Quartet is my first foray into Shostakovich so I'm not such a good judge of interpretation and quality of performance.

How about this one?

-Roy

rajacat · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 06:14 am »

or perhaps this one.

Tyson · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 06:17 am »

Rajacat, the ones in your last post are "as good" as the one's in Ted's post, but the recording quality is poorer. The ones that Ted pictured are "the" set to get. The most recent set on Virgin is a noticeable drop off in quality of performance. The Borodin set with Richter and the Piano Quintet is the one to get.

richidoo · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 01:15 pm »

That 1970s Borodin set on Melodiya appears to be out of print. here is the back cover from Amazon.

The record label is official Soviet Government so it has a storied history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodiya

Seems the label is now selling only the most recent Borodin cycle from 1980s
http://www.melody.su/eng/work/catalog/classic/529

Video Borodin Qt / Shostakovich
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKrsc0uTrs

Review of various cycles
http://www.stereophile.com/recordingofthemonth/432/

What's up with this new one?

Listed everywhere as Borodin Qt, but the cover photo says Brodsky Quartet - wtf?

a1p1 · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Jun 2009, 08:49 pm »

Is this the symphonies set to get then? I almost picked up the Greek Kondrashin set last year. Has anyone heard both? Thanks.

AP

GDeering · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Jun 2009, 02:57 pm »

Sorry, I was knocked out for a day. The second Shostakovich cycle was released on EMI, those should be available used. That's how I bought them a few years ago. There is a seller on Amazon who is way over-charging for the complete set, but you?d get an idea of the packaging. The more recent Melodiya set might be better masterings?

In any case, if the second set is not available try a CD of the third, it's going to be good - just maybe not as intense as the second. I have not heard all of the third cycle, so I should not pass judgment on it - but since I want to pass judgement - as a first choice it ranks below the second set.

There are other older Russian quartets that are great, like the Beethovens, but these are probably harder to find. Unfortunately as the quartets are recorded by and more quartets the potential character of the quartets is lost. The Borodin second cycle is very strident, but it works. It's just not the only way to play them, the problem is that the other way means putting a lot into the music that only insiders could grasp.

It's too bad, but the works are being set in stone and the humor and folksiness are being sidelined. I'm sure we'd be amazed at the way Beethoven's contemporaries shaped and colored his quartets, something obviously lost to us. Similarly I think we are seeing a similar process with more contemporary Shostakovich recordings. Who would dare interpret or add idioms if it's not written?

Gregg

drjstern · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Aug 2009, 04:43 pm »

http://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD827949009662

Which leads me to this site.

Has anyone tried listening to music using 24/96 masters?

Quote from: richidoo on 8 Jun 2009, 10:24 pm

Quote from: ted_b on 8 Jun 2009, 06:38 pm
So, what is considered the best sonically and/or artistically of No 5?

This one is dynamite! I listen to it all the time. Kreitzberg is a great conductor and pianist. Sonics are breathtaking. Crank it! The 9th is more interesting and enigmatic, extremely melodic. This is a desert island disc for me.

As for the Quartets, the set on Chandos is very good. The Piano Quintet by Vermeer Quartet on Naxos is awesome. Jupiter Quartet (my favorite) plays the hell out of the 3rd Quartet. Another desert island disc.

http://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD827949009662

Art_Chicago · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Aug 2009, 09:49 pm »

Quote from: drjstern on 2 Aug 2009, 04:43 pm

http://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=HD827949009662

Which leads me to this site.

Has anyone tried listening to music using 24/96 masters?

well I downloaded Raising Sand from HD tracks, but the original recording has hiss per the producer's will. The samples of the Shostakovich symphonies do sound outstanding, although I am not sure if the samples are in hi-rez or in 16/44 format.
Do you have a dac to handle hi-rez files? if yes, go for it.

drjstern · « **Reply #17 on:** 3 Aug 2009, 12:00 am »

My oppo BDP_83 has the dac.

I downloaded the flac files converted them to wav files which were 24/88 as this was origionally an sacd.
I then used dvd solo ultra to convert the 24/88 to 24/96 and trancoded the wav files to an audio only dvd (hi def dad).

Agree with the fifth being both fantastic performance as well as recording.

All done without leaving the house. Can become an expensive habit.

Thank you for the recommendation. The flac-wav files which are hi def and not drm'ed can be converted to 16/44 or anything else.

And you don't need a computer to output.

ted_b · « **Reply #18 on:** 3 Aug 2009, 12:50 am »

DVD Solo would have taken and authored the 24/88 files, as is, fine; why did you upconvert to a non-integer 24/96?

drjstern · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Aug 2009, 01:03 am »

great question

I think last time I tried it may have failed to play 24/88 (I had a Pioneer dv-47ai) and I assumed that a dad wouldn't default to transcoding on the sacd frequency. But let me try it now.