# SS 01.11.14 - Shostakovich #11 "The Year 1905"



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening!

For your listening pleasure this weekend:*

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)*

Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 "The Year 1905"

1. Adagio (The Palace Square)
2. Allegro (The 9th Of January)
3. Adagio (Eternal Memory)
4. Allegro non troppo (Tocsin)

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I'll admit I've only listened to this Symphony maybe 3 times in my life. So it will be interesting revisiting it this weekend. For recordings, I think I'll give this one a spin:

View attachment 54735


Rudolf Barshai/WDR Symphony Orchestra


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Listened to this just the other day (Haitink/Concertgebouw O). I have it as part of the Haitink box set. I hope to supplement it with Rozhdestvensky's Olympia recording before too long as part of my 'Soviet-only' cycle. I would actually prefer the Kondrashin but the current price is off the scale. I thought about the Mravinsky seeing the Regis reissue is cheap but I'm afraid I don't do mono for orchestral works.

As regards the symphony itself, it's not one my favourite Shostakovich ones but there's no doubting the atmospherics, especially the eerie calm of the snow-covered square before the demo arrives.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Sorry - post got duplicated.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I'll be listening to Rostropovich/LSO here.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I've got at least 10 outstanding (of maybe 30ish) recordings of this symphony. I'll choose one of the less common one's:










Staatskapelle Dresden u. Franz Konwitschny (Rec 1959 / Berlin Classics)

Konwitschny is a quite underrated conductor!

/ptr


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I've got Petrenko with Liverpool
View attachment 54752

I think I prefer the outer CD cover of these Naxos recordings with photos of Shostakovich 
View attachment 54753


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I'm very fond of this one. Both the 11th and the 12th sound militaristic to me, so I think this pairing is appropriate.









Järvi/Gothenburg


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

This one's been with me a long time. I heard it first as a new release on late night radio, 1990.

*Shostakovich*: Symphony 11, w. BPO/Bychkov (rec.1987).


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

Jansons, Philadelphia Orchestra.









I'm not big on the Shostakovich symphonies but I find the 1st movement of the 11th to be one of his more successful creations.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I'll be going for Barshai/WDR as well.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Barshai (from the complete box) for me as well.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I shall try this version via Spotify


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## Rhythm (Nov 2, 2013)

I've listened also to WDR Symphony Orchestra with Rudolf Barshai, conductor.

00:00 Palace Square. Adagio
15:27 January 9th. Adagio; Allegro
34:16 Eternal Memory. Adagio
45:41 The Toscin. Allegro non troppo
^ Youtube​


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

This is one I often visit via Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony:



















That's how I first encountered this monumental work, and so I cherish the memory of first hearing with every listen to this recording, which I happen to have on a couple of different vinyl discs as well as on CD.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

A long time favourite of mine, I shall enjoy listening to this one. I have several recordings, but I shall choose a couple off the beaten track (as usual):
Orchestra Sinfonia di Milano Giuseppe Verdi / Oleg Caetani and BBCSO / Sir John Pritchard














I might also listen to the recording in the Kitajenko box-set.


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## Guest (Nov 1, 2014)

I bored a number of people to death with this symphony last year, inspired by the Proms rendition with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Thomas Søndergård which I loved and was able to record. I've since bought the Petrenko and the Haitink. I prefer the Petrenko and the Søndergård, which has an excellent set of real bells at the climax, not just tubular.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

senza sordino said:


> I think I prefer the outer CD cover of these Naxos recordings with photos of Shostakovich


I'm going for Petrenko/RLPO as well, and when I buy these discs, I never put them back in that cardboard slipcase. What's the point? The jewel case is perfectly fine for it. And it has all the information you need, tracklist/credits-wise. It's probably a whole separate debate, but I don't understand why Naxos (or any label in fact) even make those cardboard slips.

As for the symphony itself, this is the first Shostakovich symphony I got into, and it's still my favourite. The liner notes sum the programme up perfectly, 1. context, 2. event, 3. commemoration, 4. outcome. The end of the symphony is so powerful, the unresolved outcome warning about what lies ahead in Symphony No. 12.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

I'll go for Barshai and WDR Sinfonieorchester as well, but I am glad that the version by Oleg Caetani and the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra has been mentioned. 
Although they did a very good job with the complete cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies, their recordings are little known.


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## Zarathustra (Dec 21, 2013)

Stokowski and Petrenko. Prefer the former. More ominous.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

SONNET CLV said:


> This is one I often visit via Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


For 'high-drama' Stokowski-- as opposed to his comparatively soporific and mannered performance on EMI with the Houston Symphony Orchestra-- check out his incandescent, live late-fifties Shostakovich Eleventh with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The difference is like the difference between a Studebaker and a Hennessey Viper Venom.

;D


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Kitajenko/Cologne Gurzenich Orchestra (on Spotify)


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## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

Did Haitink & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Shosty is my man - great symphony.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I'm glad I played this one again. It has never been high on my Shostakovich symphonies playing lists (the most frequently played would be 4,5,7,8,10,13,14), but it was far better than I remembered. Especially the adagio.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Okay, I have dutifully listened to the two recordings illustrated in my earlier post and enjoyed them very much. Both are live recordings, the Caetani on ARTS is from Milan, March 2003; the Pritchard on BBC Classics/IMP from London, 12th April 1985.
The Caetani is a super-duper SACD Audiophile recording wasted on me really as my equipment can only play humble standard CD's (and DVD's). I find the sound a tad bright and harsh with very prominent trombones and timpani while the remainder of the orchestra often seems to be in the next room. That said, the 1st and second movements are excellent but the 3rd movement is played very - _very_ - slowly except for the louder part in the middle. I like tempi that side on the slower, but this is almost glacial and makes the faster-than-usual final movement seem like a sudden mad dash. Mention has to be made of the bells at the end: some may already be aware that on this recording the bells are vast, cathedral-like dongers which impress at first hearing. But then the probability emerges that these could well be synthesized sounds straight out of Edirol Orchestral or similar software played on a small pre-programmed keyboard by the celeste player, at which thought they lose their impact somewhat.

I was at the LSO/Pritchard concert at the Royal Festival Hall from which the BBC Radio Classics recording is taken. Sir John Pritchard isn't really known for Shostakovich, but this is a pretty good rendition. The recording is far less brash than Caetani and in some ways it might be a tad too smooth for this piece. Odd how the percussion have been miked: the snare drum seems very distant while the tam-tam is (unusually) in-your-face and the ending is let down by almost inaudible bells. Oh well, at least I can console myself with the fact that one of the audience-members cheering at the end is me


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> *Shostakovich*: Symphony 11, w. BPO/Bychkov (rec.1987).


Not familiar with this recording but I heard Bychkov perform this with Philadelphia last year and it was insane (in a good way).

Haitink, Petrenko or Jansons for me.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

I played in a performance of this symphony (with our community orchestra) over a decade ago.
It burns incandescently in my memory and always will.
One of the great Shostakovich symphonies.
cheers,
GG


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Just as a postscript, I found this recording on ebay for next-to-nothing and decided to give it a try.









It's both an orchestra and conductor I've never heard of. Listening through, it's a slow interpretation, particularly in the second movement, which might not suit everyone - overall it runs to just over 70 minutes against 66:15 for the Caetani and 62:35 for the Pritchard. I like the recording though, the piccolo is particularly shrill at times and the timpani, xylophone, snare drums and tam-tam are very well recorded. A big warning though - this version is great if you don't like bells, but a real bummer if you do. There is the occasional _very_ faint ding at the end, but otherwise nothing. Still a keeper though


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## liuauto (Nov 17, 2014)

I shall say that any record does not match a live concert experience given by a decent orchestra. The shock of the symphony cannot be delivered by CD players or other electronic media. The pressure and energy that shatters one's courage in the movement that emulates the gunshots of Tsar's guards can only be experienced at a concert.


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