CD: Dmitri Shostakovich: The Complete Symphonies [Hybrid SACD] [Box Set] Box set

Dmitri Shostakovich: The Complete Symphonies [Hybrid SACD] [Box Set] Box set

Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies / Kitajenko / Gürzenich-orch Koln

Release Date: 09/27/2005
Label: Capriccio Records Catalog #: 49545 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Number of Discs: 12
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 12 Hours 32 Mins.

Works on This Recording
1. Symphony no 1 in F minor, Op. 10 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1924-1925; USSR
2. Symphony no 2 in B flat major, Op. 14 "To October" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1927; USSR
3. Symphony no 3 in E flat major, Op. 20 "First of May" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1929; USSR
4. Symphony no 4 in C minor, Op. 43 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1935-1936; USSR
5. Symphony no 5 in D minor, Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1937; USSR
6. Symphony no 6 in B minor, Op. 54 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1939; USSR
7. Symphony no 7 in C major, Op. 60 "Leningrad" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; USSR
8. Symphony no 8 in C minor, Op. 65 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1943; USSR
9. Symphony no 9 in E flat major, Op. 70 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; USSR
10. Symphony no 10 in E minor, Op. 93 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USSR
11. Symphony no 11 in G minor, Op. 103 "Year 1905" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USSR
12. Symphony no 12 in D minor, Op. 112 "To the Memory of Lenin - 1917" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1961; USSR
13. Symphony no 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 "Babi Yar" by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1962; USSR
14. Symphony no 14 in G minor, Op. 135 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1969; USSR
15. Symphony no 15 in A major, Op. 141 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor: Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble: Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1971; USSR

Notes and Editorial Reviews
Featuring vocal soloists: Arutjun Kotchinian, Stefan Lang and Marina Shaguch in Symphonies nos. 14 and 15.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Kitajenko or Barshai? Or who? That's really the question as the Shostakovich centennial year of 2006 is well served by two sets of the complete symphonies. To answer the question straight out: Barshai's Brilliant Classics set, taped in excellent CD sound in the 1990s, edges Kitajenko, despite the latter's often superior 2001-2004 SACD sound. What Barshai has in particular is his clear understanding of the music's subversive subtext, exemplified by the harshness and brutality of some of the sounds he makes. Kitajenko's performances keep the recognition of evil under the surface, concealed by a lyrical, even "classical" approach analogous to the way Kubelik or Bertini seek structural clarity and singing lines in their Mahler sets. In places where Barshai produces raw, shocking sounds, Kitajenko's tone is more likely to remain musically poised.

Kitajenko's lyricism pays dividends in Shostakovich's numerous slow, lonely passages, which sing to heartbreaking effect, most notably in the Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and the final movement of the Fourth. And guess what? Even though Kitajenko refrains from telegraphing the message, the underlying meaning sneaks out, albeit undercover rather than in your face.

It's the rule that large-scale boxed-set surveys of this sort always have high and low points. In the present case, in which nearly every performance is very respectable and sound tends to be excellent, Barshai has fewer lapses than Kitajenko. For some reason, neither contributes a first-rate Fifth. While Kitajenko rules in the Seventh, and his Nos. 6, 10, 11, and 15 match Barshai's, Kitajenko is too light-hearted in the Ninth, doesn't unify the First, and is let down by lightweight bass singing (choral and solo) in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth. The outer movements of the Eighth never have been sung so touchingly, but the two demonic fast movements are too tame and the passacaglia is not dark enough. Barshai is better in the front part of the Fourth, Kitajenko in the finale. Kitajenko scores with magisterial control of the complexities of the Second and imbues most of the Twelfth with tremendous energy, then deliberately lets it dissipate into banality at the end. As for the Third, both Kitajenko and Barshai confirm that piece of trash as a lost cause.

West German Radio engineers produced stupendous sound in the nine symphonies that were taped in the studio. However, Nos. 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, and 15 were "taped live" in concert, and only Nos. 7 and 15 match that clean, solid, natural sound. The other four get "splashy" when Shostakovich's extremely loud scoring overwhelms the Köln Philharmonie. Except for those four, the symphonies here sound better than I've ever heard. Orchestral playing is outstanding, featuring particularly powerful, solid brass.

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