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Date: | Fri, 26 Nov 1999 23:26:14 +1300 |
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Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> asks
>I have the opportunity to buy at reduced price Haitink's Decca recordings
>of the Shostakovich symphonies. I'm interested in the last three
>symphonies. Any opinions of Haitink's performances?
Symphony No.13 is excellent if one likes a Klemperer-esque stately
approach or in visual arts terms it might be akin to early cubism.
Kondrashin captures more of the biting satire, but in inferior recorded
sound. On balance I prefer the Kondrashin performance and consider myself
lucky not to be an audiophile with bat like hearing apparatus and an
evangelical penchant for distributing brochures and assorted papers filled
with incomprehensible mathematical formulae relating to acoustics, wow and
flutter statistics etc etc etc.
Symphony No.14 is also very good if one doesn't mind the fact that the
settings are all done in the original Spanish, French & German in a version
apparently authorised by Shostakovich. Kondrashin using the original
Russian settings is again to be preferred, despite ordinary sound.
Symphony No.15 is one of the most successful Haitink recordings of the set.
This would certainly be worth considering. Haitink's deadpan approach
works very well.
The oil upon which Haitink's Shostakovich performances run is generally
rather refined by comparison to many of the Russian competitors. Not every
classic vehicle however requires such refinement, though it generally does
no real harm and may even contribute to a smoother, more comfortable ride.
Geoffrey Gaskell
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