DG couples the opposite sides of a composer’s polemic.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has cut ties with the renowned conductor after four women alleged he sexually assaulted them between 1985 and 2010.

The recently appointed Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, continues his series of the ‘war symphonies’ of Shostakovich in this double-disc set. The Tenth appeared a year ago to great acclaim, and the Sixth and Seventh are slated for future release. This series of symphonies is the pinnacle of Shostakovich’s achievement in the form, reputedly mapping the composer’s anxiety, anger and subversion during the fraught years of war and Stalin’s rule. Valery Gergiev recorded much the same selection with the Kirov (Mariinsky) Orchestra in the early 2000s for Philips (leaving out the post-war Tenth, arguably the best, and adding the experimental pre-war Fourth). That set makes for an interesting comparison. The Boston Symphony is known for its polish, and it is an aural pleasure to revisit their beautifully upholstered, well recorded sound. Nelsons has galvanised these musicians.Dramatic moments like the descending brass motifs in the Eighth’s third movement absolutely tell. Quirky, pointed phrasing from the clarinet brings Shostakovich the clown to life in the central movement of the Ninth, and the Fifth’s first movement climax carries plenty of weight. The passage that follows, with flute and horn mingling in gentle counterpoint, is as… Continue reading Get unlimited…

Editor’s Choice, Orchestral – December 2015 Andris Nelsons has intimate first-hand knowledge of growing up under the cosh of the Soviet regime. As an impressionable 12-year old in 1990 he saw his native Latvia declare independence from the Soviet Union, and among the adjustments to be made was the joyful reappearance of his ‘disappeared’ grandfather, who had spent the previous 15 years holed up in Siberia. Is it because Nelsons understands instinctively the political lunacy that shaped this composer that he can play the music of Shostakovich as opposed to allowing his interpretations to become overstacked with symbolism, metaphor and mythology? Other conductors, of course, shared comparable experiences – Rozhdestvensky, Ashkenazy and Maxim Shostakovich, the composer’s son. But how rare it is to hear Shostakovich’s musical motivation so starkly delineated which, in turn, illuminates the politics. This first installment in a projected cycle to be released with the tag ‘Under Stalin’s Shadow’, opens with a sonic emergency. Shostakovich’s 1936 opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was the source of all subsequent bother that the composer would have with the regime. Denounced in Pravda as “petit-bourgeois formalism”, Nelsons needs… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a…

As a recording artist (primarily for Philips) Ozawa was never extravagantly lauded, but neither was his work as divisive as some.

Founded in 1937 under the Boston Symphony’s legendary conductor Serge Koussevitzky, the Tanglewood Festival is one of the most famous in the world. Based in the hills near Boston, it has a superb site and access to some of the world’s best tutors and soloists. Programs such as this are usually a mixed bag. How many of us are going to buy a DVD with such disconnected compositions? Not many by my guess. Copland’s Fanfare is splendidly done by the BSO, as are the dances from On The Town. Bernstein’s second musical is a marvellous piece and the Bostonians rattle it off to the manor born. The outstanding track contains Anne Sophie Mutter’s dazzling rendition of Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy. It is superb. On the down side are James Taylor’s poorly sung American Songs. He’s lost it and it is painful to endure. In the classical department, Emanuel Ax turns in a slightly idiosyncratic performance of the second two movements of the Haydn Piano Concerto and Peter Serkin delivers a straightforward account of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. The orchestras and choir perform well and it is always a delight to see so many talented and dedicated young people flying the flag for classical…