# Shostakovich - 11th Symphony - Kondrashin?



## apbsen (Jun 14, 2013)

Which recording of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony - conducted by Kondrashin - is the best?

Both concerning the performance and the sound quality.

There's a good version on Youtube. Is this performance with the Moscow Philharmonic available on CD?






On Amazon, the recordings of this symphony by Kondrashin are either extremely expensive or a part of an also very expensive box set containing all the symphonies.

Any suggestions where Shostakovich's 11th conducted by Kondrashin on CD can be bought for a more moderate amount?

Thanks for any help and advice!

...Also, if anyone has tips for other recordings of this symphony, don't hesitate to suggest them.

Mravinsky, Polyansky and Rostropovich's versions are apparently good...?

Though a reviewer on Amazon says that the Polyansky release on Chandos has technical/sound issues:

http://www.amazon.com/Dmitri-Shostakovich-Symphony-No-11/dp/B000000AZN

And is there a Mravinsky recording in good sound quality?


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

I am a huge advocate of Kondrashin - both as a conductor and as a brave human being who often risked his own career and personal safety in the support of his fellow musicians. I don't consider his recording of the 11th symphony one of the best of his cycle; for me, the tempi are uniformly too brisk and the sound quality is not the best to have come from the Melodiya source. However, his riot/massacre section in the second half of the second movement sends chills up the spine.

You can get single-disc versions of this Moscow Phil recording on ebay and Amazon if you're patient. It is the only recording of this symphony Kondrashin made. Mravinsky is always very fine in Shostakovich. He recorded the 11th twice - once just days after the symphony's premiere (actually conducted by Natan Rakhlin), in November 1957 (another live performance, like most of Mravinsky's recordings), but poorly recorded (and, surprisingly, not all that well played) and a studio performance in February 1959. This later recording in in mono sound, but is still well worth having and is performed excellently. It has been issued many times by a wealth of labels and so should not be that hard to track down.

The original non-USSR premiere of this work was conducted by André Cluytens with the French National Radio Orchestra, recorded in Paris in the presence of the composer in May 1958. This is stereo and is an important historical document. It is available in an excellent transfer on Testament.

I am not normally a fan of Rostropovich generally as a conductor or of his Shostakovich in particular, but his LSO Live performance is really excellent and available very cheaply.


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## apbsen (Jun 14, 2013)

Delicious Manager said:


> Mravinsky is always very fine in Shostakovich. He recorded the 11th twice - once just days after the symphony's premiere (actually conducted by Natan Rakhlin), in November 1957 (another live performance, like most of Mravinsky's recordings), but poorly recorded (and, surprisingly, not all that well played) and a studio performance in February 1959. This later recording in in mono sound, but is still well worth having and is performed excellently. It has been issued many times by a wealth of labels and so should not be that hard to track down.


Many thanks for your informative and useful answer!

Conc. the Mravinsky recording: Is the Melodiya release below the best-sounding version?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mravinsky-V...116&sr=8-1&keywords=shostakovich+11+mravinsky

Or is there a "re-mastered version" on another label (a reviewer on Amazon mentions - concerning the 10th Symphony - that Erato has released the same performance as Melodiya, but in a much better-sounding version.

I wonder if the same has happened with the 11th Symphony?


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

apbsen said:


> Many thanks for your informative and useful answer!
> 
> Conc. the Mravinsky recording: Is the Melodiya release below the best-sounding version?
> 
> ...


I have that whole series. The recordings have all been remastered by Melodiya (a more sophisticated outfit than it used to be) and I have to say they've done a marvellous job. That's going to sound as good as any other pressing (and better than most).


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## apbsen (Jun 14, 2013)

Delicious Manager said:


> I am not normally a fan of Rostropovich generally as a conductor or of his Shostakovich in particular, but his LSO Live performance is really excellent and available very cheaply.


I've now listened to the Rostropovich version - for me, it's unfortunately a little too slow.

Maybe because I heard Barshai's version first, which I believe is quite a bit faster.

But I'll certainly give Rostropovich another listen. His version, along with Stokowski's, seems to be highly regarded by many.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Great advice.

Would you give this a try 



 Petrenko and RLPO tis my favourite


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## apbsen (Jun 14, 2013)

Thank you very much for the link to the Petrenko recording, which I have not heard before.

Are there any recordings which specifically go against the "propagandistic" sense of the 11th symphony, ie. recordings which stress the "ironic" aspect of the music?

I've read that Stokowski's version is more "propagandistic" and literal than for instance Gergiev's version, which supposedly focuses more on being "pure music".

Any suggestions?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Have You tried Neeme Järvi on DG (GSO used to be my home town orchestra so I have a personal stake), Diffrent from Kondrashin, but with Järvi's special insights.
Semyon Bychkov has some of Kondrashin's aspects especially his version with their Berliner's on Philips if You can find it. Two other good ones I can recommend are Franz Konwitschny/Staatskapelle Dresden (Berlin Classics) and Gennadi Roszdestvensky/USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra (Melodiya/BMG/Victor)...

Just to underline, besides Kondrashin and Mravinsky I find Cluytens essential!

/ptr


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## apbsen (Jun 14, 2013)

Wonderful tips, ptr!

It really is appreciated to get recommendations that I (and many others, I'm sure) would otherwise not have known about.

I've never heard of the Franz Konwitschny/Staatskapelle Dresden recording. What makes it special, compared to other performances?

And how is the sound quality - I'm assuming it's somewhat of a "historical" recording?


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2013)

Oleg Caetani's is brutal, but the bells near the end of the last movement are ridiculously loud when played on a multi-channel system, but in stereo they are better balanced. I think they are a digital recording of enormous church bells. Here's a review:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=126098#review


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

apbsen said:


> I've never heard of the Franz Konwitschny/Staatskapelle Dresden recording. What makes it special, compared to other performances?


A very special orchestra, a very good, sometimes slightly uneven but very underrated conductor. Konwitschny was in general very free spirited towards the (musical) text (score) in his interpretation (read "tempi") I feel that he keeps it together without adding to much of an negative personality. He is quite slow, but not as lagging as Berglund (Take a look at this review!)



> And how is the sound quality - I'm assuming it's somewhat of a "historical" recording?


Recorded in 1960, it is decent and even in Stereo, but perhaps not a match the best western recordings made during the same period!

/ptr


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