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Film Music Classics - Shostakovich: The Fall Of Berlin, Etc
Naxos

Film Music Classics - Shostakovich: The Fall Of Berlin, Etc

$19.99

Details

Composer
SHOSTAKOVICH
Artist
Adriano, Moscow So
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Aug 29, 2006
Catalog #
8570238
UPC
747313023875

About

This recording, previously issued on Marco Polo in its film music series, now reappears at budget price on Naxos, and it's quite welcome. The Fall of Berlin, a typical World War II saga depicting Russian heroism and the last days of Hitler, inspired Shostakovich to some good battle music and more than a few characterful episodes depicting both sides of the ongoing struggle. There's no reason to believe that the composer did not sincerely desire the defeat of Germany, and so did not take this particular job seriously, all questions of Socialist Realism aside. In any event, the film offered the chance to write a lot of music, some 45 minutes' worth, much of it unusually extended and developed. The result is certainly listenable on its own apart from the film, even if for obvious reasons the score is more than a bit strident and relentless in depicting both struggle and triumph.

Shostakovich took pride in much of his work for films, even while regarding it as something apart from his career as a "serious" composer. It's easy to understand why: as André Previn once mentioned, the requirements of working on movies tend to minimize opportunities for "the elongated thought." That said, The Unforgettable Year 1919 offered Shostakovich the chance to write a full-blown romantic piano concerto movement similar to Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto, and he produced something eminently cinematic, if utterly atypical of his more familiar style. The track in question is somewhat confusingly called The Assault on the Red Hill, and you can have a lot of fun playing it for your friends and asking them to guess the composer. The performances are a bit rough and ready, not unusual given this source, but they're certainly in character and vividly recorded. Shostakovich fans will need no further urging from me.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 23 tracks

  1. 1 I. Main Title Part 1 02:44
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Main Title Part 1
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  2. 2 II. Beautiful day 02:15
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Beautiful day
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Capella, Moscow Youth Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  3. 3 III. Alyosha by the river 01:39
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Alyosha by the river
    Duration
    01:39
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  4. 4 IV. Stalin's garden 02:02
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Stalin's garden
    Duration
    02:02
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Capella, Moscow Youth Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  5. 5 V. Alyosha and Natalia in the fields - Attack 03:53
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Alyosha and Natalia in the fields - Attack
    Duration
    03:53
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  6. 6 VI. Hitler's reception 01:32
    Track
    6
    Title
    VI. Hitler's reception
    Duration
    01:32
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  7. 7 VII. In the devastated village 02:40
    Track
    7
    Title
    VII. In the devastated village
    Duration
    02:40
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  8. 8 VIII. Forward! 00:58
    Track
    8
    Title
    VIII. Forward!
    Duration
    00:58
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  9. 9 IX. Main Title Part 2 02:06
    Track
    9
    Title
    IX. Main Title Part 2
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  10. 10 X. The roll call - Attack at night 03:01
    Track
    10
    Title
    X. The roll call - Attack at night
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  11. 11 XI. Storming Seelov Heights (Zielona Gora) 06:26
    Track
    11
    Title
    XI. Storming Seelov Heights (Zielona Gora)
    Duration
    06:26
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  12. 12 XII. The flooding of the underground station 01:11
    Track
    12
    Title
    XII. The flooding of the underground station
    Duration
    01:11
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  13. 13 XIII. The final battle for the Reichstag - Kostya's death 04:06
    Track
    13
    Title
    XIII. The final battle for the Reichstag - Kostya's death
    Duration
    04:06
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  14. 14 XIV. Yussuf's death - The Red Banner 03:41
    Track
    14
    Title
    XIV. Yussuf's death - The Red Banner
    Duration
    03:41
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  15. 15 XV. Stalin at Berlin Airport 04:28
    Track
    15
    Title
    XV. Stalin at Berlin Airport
    Duration
    04:28
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Capella, Moscow Youth Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  16. 16 XVI. Finale: Stalin's speech - Alyosha and Natasha reunited 02:44
    Track
    16
    Title
    XVI. Finale: Stalin's speech - Alyosha and Natasha reunited
    Duration
    02:44
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Capella, Moscow Youth Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  17. 17 I. Introduction 02:04
    Track
    17
    Title
    I. Introduction
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  18. 18 II. Romance (Meeting of Shibayev with Katya) 04:52
    Track
    18
    Title
    II. Romance (Meeting of Shibayev with Katya)
    Duration
    04:52
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  19. 19 III. Scene from the Sea Battle 02:19
    Track
    19
    Title
    III. Scene from the Sea Battle
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  20. 20 IV. Scherzo 02:25
    Track
    20
    Title
    IV. Scherzo
    Duration
    02:25
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  21. 21 V. The Assault on the Red Hill, "Assault on Beautiful Gorky" 07:00
    Track
    21
    Title
    V. The Assault on the Red Hill, "Assault on Beautiful Gorky"
    Duration
    07:00
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Performer
    Ellena Alekseyeva
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  22. 22 VI. Intermezzo 05:03
    Track
    22
    Title
    VI. Intermezzo
    Duration
    05:03
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano
  23. 23 VII. Finale 06:06
    Track
    23
    Title
    VII. Finale
    Duration
    06:06
    Composer
    Dmitri Shostakovich
    Ensemble
    Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    Adriano