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Date: | Sat, 8 Sep 2001 10:26:03 +0100 |
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The 4th, 6th and 15th are my favourite Schostakovich symphonies. I
came to the 4th via the RSNO/Jarvi recordining on Chandos - a spectacular
propulsive reading. There is a much cheaper NSO/Rostapovich recording
coupled with the 8th on on Warner Ultima label which is VERY well recorded
but not so exciting.
To the the 4th is a symphony under pressure - both physical and
psychological. The hysterical speed of the strings and relentless build
up of tension at about 17 minutes into the first movement is the musical
equivalent of a migraine. Also, the final moments of eerie calm with the
slow pulse puctuated by slighly sinister woodwind and percussion (ever
so subtle - quite brilliant ear for sound here on S's part) is at turns
beautiful and horrific. Sometimes it's as if the composer is throwing
pots of paints at a wall in a fury but when you listen again you realise
how carefully the work is scored. I think you have to remember that in
Leningrad at the time people were disappearing left right and centre. From
memory about a 5th of the population was 'purged'(!). I suspect that had
they been allowed to hear this great work the contemporary audiences would
have understood it very clearly.
Please borrow a decent recording from your library and listen again.
Kind regards,
David Harbin
Nottingham, UK
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