Stalin Archive
SHOSTAKOVICH: Sym. No. 10; encores – Texas Music Fest. Orch./ Mei-Ann Chen – HDTT
Written just after the death of Stalin, the composer stated that this symphony is about the Stalinist era, but others disagree. SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10; AN-LUN HUANG:: Sebei Dance No. 2 “Lantern Festival”; RACHMANINOFF: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; CHOPIN: Etude Op. 27/7 – Texas Music Festival Orch./ Mei-Ann Chen; (Extras:) Moores School Sym. […]
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky (1955) – Praga Digitals
Two Mravinsky performances from the Prague Spring 1955, of which the Shostakovich seems “definitive.” BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60; SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No. 10 in e minor, Op. 93 – Leningrad Philharmonic Orch./ Yevgeny Mravinsky (1955) – Praga Digitals PRD 350 115, 79:28 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: Praga Digitals restores two […]
Maria Yudina, A Great Russian Pianist = BEETHOVEN, STRAVINSKY, BARTOK – Praga Digitals
A concise portrait of the iconoclast Maria Yudina, who championed modern music. Maria Yudina, A Great Russian Pianist = BEETHOVEN: Variations and Fugue in E-flat Major, Op. 35 “Eroica”; BERG: Piano Sonata, Op. 1; STRAVINSKY: Serenade in A Major; Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments; BARTOK: Mikrokosmos, Bk. V-VI: excerpts – Maria Yudina, piano/ USSR […]
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Execution of Stepan Razin; The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland; The Song of the Forests – Soloists/ Narva Boys Choir/ Estonian Concert Choir/ Estonian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Paavo Jarvi – Warner Classics
Excellent performances of questionable music…with one exception. SHOSTAKOVICH: The Execution of Stepan Razin; The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland; The Song of the Forests – Alexi Tanovitski, bass/ Konstantin Andreyev, tenor/ Narva Boys Choir/ Estonian Concert Choir/ Estonian Nat. Sym. Orch./ Paavo Jarvi – Warner Classics 0825646166664, 79:52 [Distr. by Naxos] ***1/2: The Execution of […]
SHOSTAKOVICH: Complete Symphonies and Concertos/ Valery Gergiev – Blu-ray (2015)
Essential. Nothing else to say. SHOSTAKOVICH: Complete Symphonies and Concertos – Valery Gergiev, Blu-ray (2015) Performers: Orch. and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre/ Valery Gergiev/ Alena Baeva, violin/ Vadin Repin, violin/ Mario Brunello, cello/ Gautier Capucon, cello/ Denis Matsuev, piano/ Danil Trifonov, piano/ Timur Martynov, trumpet/ Veroinika Dzhioeva, sop./ Mikhail Petrenko, bass (Live from Salle […]
Cultural Death: Music under Tyranny = Works ov BEETHOVEN, BRAHMS, BERLIOZ – Munich Philharmonic & USSR Sym. – Arbiter
Arbiter celebrates three musical personalities who flourished, then perished within the autocratic bounds of fascism. Cultural Death: Music under Tyranny = BEETHOVEN: Leonore Overture No. 2; BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83: Allegro non troppo; BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, OP. 14a – Munich Philharmonic/ Oswald Kabasta (Beethoven)/ Alfred Hohn, p./ Leipzig Radio […]
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Symphonies (Complete) – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./ Vasily Petrenko – Naxos
Magnificent, thrilling performances given expressive, idiomatic readings by a formidable young conductor.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Passacaglia from the Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk / Symphony No. 10 in e minor – Boston Sym. Orch. / Andris Nelsons – DGG
A stirring performance of the 10th Symphony with a recording to match.
Richter: The Enigma: A Film by Bruno Monsaingeon (1998/2014)
Bruno Monsaingeon addresses the mystery of Sviatoslav Richter, the pianist Glenn Gould called “a direct link from the composer to his listening audience.”
The Dance of Reality, Blu-ray (2014)
Typical Jodorowsky but perhaps not his masterpiece.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6 – Valery Gergiev, Mariinksy Orch. – multichannel SACD Mariinsky (2 discs)
Committed performances and fine recording of these three symphonies from a chaotic period for the composer.
MIECZYSLAW WEINBERG: Complete String Quartets – Quatuor Danel – CPO (6 CDs)
One of the great quartet cycles of the 20th century receives definitive performances.
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Song of the Forests; The Sun Shines Over the Motherland; Ten Songs on Words of Revolutionary Poets – Vladimir Ivanovsky, tenor/ Ivan Perrov, bass/ Boy’s Choir of Moscow State Chorus/ USSR Academic Russian Choir/ Moscow Philharmonic Orch./ Yuri Ulanov/ USSR Sym. Orch./ Konstantin Ivanov/ Leningrad Radio and TV Chorus/ Grigori Sandler – Praga Digitals
Some fascinating Shostakovich exotica, with historical interest as well.
Khachaturian (2003)
A fascinating first-rate documentary on the Armenian-Russian composer.
PROKOFIEV: Cantata; SHOSTAKOVICH: The Sun Shines over our Motherland – RSFSR Russian Chorus/Boys Choir/Moscow Philharmonic/Kirill Kondrashin – Melodiya/HDTT
HDTT resurrects two Stalinist political hymns from Prokofiev and Shostakovich; more musical curios than testaments of faith in a dubious regime.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
