Dmitry Shostakovich – Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko (2011) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Dmitry Shostakovich – Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko (2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:04:10 minutes | 569 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz |  Label: Naxos Rights
Recorded at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England, on 28th and 29th July, 2009 (tracks 1-4), and on 22nd and 23rd June, 2010 (tracks 5-10)

Shostakovich’s First Symphony propelled the teenage composer to international prominence, its emotional range and innovative orchestration marking him as a daring and precocious talent on the scene. The Third Symphony, ‘The First of May’, originally intended as part of a symphonic cycle inspired by dates on the revolutionary calendar, has been described as ‘a reckless and at times chaotic accommodation between modernist intent and revolutionary fervour’. ‘Thrilling, perfect, essential…the modern reference recording’.

Petrenko’s Shostakovich cycle continues with an account of the First Symphony that appreciates both its mischief and its soulfulness. Superbly characterful contributions from his woodwind section help to bring both those dimensions to life, while Petrenko’s grasp of the broader picture helps to keep the balance between them. Only once does that grasp briefly desert him, when he takes the Trio section of the second movement (where flutes and clarinets evoke a mock pilgrims’ procession) so slowly that the symphonic flow is damaged—not irreparably but enough to discourage me from listening again.

Similarly, there are dozens of delightful details in Petrenko’s account of The First of May Symphony but his structural pacing is more seriously open to question. The opening clarinet solo, for instance, may be beautifully inflected but it is so far away from the marked tempo that the first accelerando has the feeling of an emergency catch-up. Thereafter everything stays on track for a while, and the sense of enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism—surely germane, whichever way you care to “read” the piece ideologically—is superbly realised, until an unmarked slowing for the side-drum tattoo dissipates much of the excitement. Having said that, much in the late stages is outstandingly fine, including the RLPO Chorus’s more than plausible impersonation of ardent revolutionaries. With the exception of the trumpets’ reluctance (or is it Petrenko’s?) to drive home climaxes—not a fault of Jansons’s account of the Third Symphony, for one—the internal balance and overall sound-picture are exceptionally fine. At bargain price, Naxos’s offering is hardly bettered. -David Fanning, Gramophone

Tracklist:
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 10
1. I. Allegretto – Allegro non troppo 00:08:21
2. II. Allegro 00:05:36
3. III. Lento 00:09:24
4. IV. Allegro molto 00:10:02

Symphony No. 3, Op. 20, “Pervomayskaya” (The First of May)
5. I. Allegretto 00:02:25
6. II. Piu mosso 00:08:52
7. III. Andante 00:06:05
8. IV. Allegro 00:06:14
9. V. Andante 00:03:09
10. VI. Moderato 00:04:24

Personnel:
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Download:

mqs.link_ShstakvichSymphniesNs.13RLPVasilyPetrenk201144.124.rar