Shostakovich's Music: Personal Opinions, Performances, and Recordings
3x2 Concerti
Shostakovich wrote 6 concerti,
2 each for piano, violin, and cello.
Not a big number, like Mozart.
Not even a round 5, like Beethoven, or other piano concerti composers.
But it has a nice symmetry,
which probably says a bit more of Shostakovich the natural orchestral
composer than Shostakovich the pianist-composer.
In fact, the two violin and two cello concerti outnumber most composers.
Well,
below the surface of the symmetry
and the common fact of all being enjoyable,
the three pairs are quite different in characters,
and have made different impressions on me personally,
as I elaborate below.
Two Cello Concerti
I'll start with the two cello concerti,
both great works and very personal to myself through my
Rostropovich link to Shostakovich.
If Dvorak cello concert
(which I love too) is the "King" of cello concerti,
these two should join it as the "Holy Trinity",
in my personal opinion.
As far as performance and recording goes,
no one holds a candle to Rostropovich here,
also I enjoyed Yo-Yo Ma performance of these a couple of times.
Two Violin Concerti
The rest of the 15 symphonies are enjoyable as well:
#2 and #3, full of youthful energy and experimentation;
#6, a modest beauty overshadowed by her immediate siblings;
#7, well, I didn't find the repetition tedious,
and enjoyed the Bernstein/CSO recording a lot
(also Bernstein's older one from 60s);
#9, witty and amazing at the same time,
I still can't believe his guts to produce such an anti-"9"
against the expectations of a grand, celebratory work
every time I listen to it;
#11 and #12, great powerful works;
and #15, such a bounce-back from #14's depth of despair that re-affirms
life in a whimsical way.
The 11th is the best Andrew Litton/Dallas Symphony concert I attended
(well, if I exclude Rostropovich/DSO/Litton).
Recordings
As far as the recording goes,
my personal favorite is the set by
Rostropovich with National Symphony
Orchestra (and other orchestras too).
Authenticity and raw power are the two key features of this set.
As an alternative, nice complement, Haitink/Concertgebeuw set
is excellent.
Probably more refined but still powerful.
Before Rostropovich/NSO became available,
I listened to Neemi Jarvi quite a bit as a substitute,
and liked what I heard quite a lot in his own right.
Bernstein/CSO set of #1 and #7 is quite enjoyable too.
The few Maryinsky recordings I have are all great despite
old recording technology.
Prepared by Jeff Tian
(tian@engr.smu.edu).
Created April 14, 2008. Last update April 15, 2008.
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