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Shostakovich: Symphonies No 5 & 9 / Gergiev, Kirov Orchestra


Release Date: 05/11/2004 
Label:  Philips   Catalog #: 475065   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor:  Valery Gergiev
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Kirov Theater Orchestra
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 14 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

Valery Gergiev gives the Fifth an admirably direct, clean performance full of excitement and intensity. He builds the first movement's central climax with unerring skill, makes due allowance for the Scherzo's ironic humor without overdoing it, and paces the great Largo just about as well as anyone ever has. He treats the finale as an unambiguous triumph, with crushing bass drum and timpani, and throughout the Kirov Orchestra gives a 100 percent effort. In sum, this is a very good rendition of an oft-recorded classic. It doesn't quite plumb the emotional depths in the way that Rostropovich, Sanderling, or Bernstein have, but I can't imagine anyone being disappointed.


The performance of the Ninth is more individual, in Read more that Gergiev takes a very laid-back approach to the first movement, giving the woodwinds plenty of room to grunt and squeak, and then considerably picks up the pace in the remainder of the work. The central scherzo has particular brilliance and impetuosity. It seems to me that a touch more precision from the strings would have given the music just that much more character, but as a conception this works quite well. In both cases, Philips provides vivid, up-front sonics that don't really offer a natural picture of what these players sound like live--but that's not necessarily a bad thing when the result has such physical impact in all other respects. Good stuff.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Symphony no 5 in D minor, Op. 47 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor:  Valery Gergiev
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Kirov Theater Orchestra
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1937; USSR 
 Date of Recording: 06/30/2002 
Venue:  Live  Martti Talvela Hall, Mikkeli, Finland 
Length: 47 Minutes 58 Secs. 
2. Symphony no 9 in E flat major, Op. 70 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Conductor:  Valery Gergiev
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Kirov Theater Orchestra
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1945; USSR 
 Date of Recording: 05/2002 
Venue:  Live  Mariinsky Theater, St Petersburg, Russia 
Length: 25 Minutes 45 Secs. 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 Gergiev Rules! November 26, 2012 By James Kendall (Kentfield, CA) See All My Reviews "This is one of my all-time-fave recordings. I once had more of Gergiev/Shostakovich, but had to trade them in when poverty dictated. Those days, I'd felt I really was experiencing the destitution remarked upon in these pieces. Shostakovich composed these while under the, Dangerous, yoke of Stalin. I don't feel qualified to go into the minutiae of those politics, which are reflected in these works. The very good liner-notes can shed some light on the dramatic issues that went into shaping these symphonies. Worth the admission, alone, are the authentic Stalinist-wartime graphics that come with the CD. Precious. Again, in my estimation, this is another example of a conductor/band excelling in interpretation of works indigenous to themselves. Valery Gergiev/Kirov Orchestra, Know Russia; and do it justice herein. Strident, erratic, forceful; yet imbued with a drive-to-survive. Next time you think your pizza was delivered with not enough pepperoni; listen to these and awaken!" Report Abuse
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