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Shostakovich...WHOA


An old g/f made a copy of a Shostakovich recording and until this week I’d never gotten around to it. MAN, is this guy giving me nightmares. I don’t know a damn thing about classical music but HOLY CHRISTMAS!

I can’t call up the old g/f to ask (I want to live, I want to live!) so I’m hoping someone can ID this recording and then offer suggestions to similar Shostakovich. I’m looking for brooding, scary, intense, hair-raising chaos…just like what’s-her-name.

The recording I was given has the following handwritten on it: “Kammersinfornie (after) string Quartet #8 & #10.” “1960” is also written on the recording with an arrow from it pointing to “Quartet #8.” The track most indicative of what I like is #2 whatever that is.

What’s this guy’s rep in the classical world, anyway? Maybe the style of this recording isn’t representative of his work.

As an interesting side note…this girl was always giving me really twisted material as witnessed by the title of the last book she gave me: “The Insanity of Normality – Realism as Sickness: Toward Understanding Human Destructiveness.” An army of red flags popped up with that one but I valiantly forged ahead with my little pea shooter anyway (please excuse the disgusting and humiliating metaphor.) I got clobbered.
kublakhan
rcprince
3,073 posts
 
For the symphonies on CD, I'd recommend Rostropovich and the National Symphony on Teldec for the 4th, 5th and 8th symphonies, and Bernstein on DG (of all things for me to recommend!) for the 1st and 7th. Gregm, thanks for the string quartet recommendation, that's the version I was thinking of.
cpdunn99's avatar
cpdunn99
639 posts
 
Yes, Kublakhan, I was laughing at that last paragraph. You've been given some great recommendations...mine would simply be redundant. Happy listening!
ljan
7 posts
 
I'm glad someone mentioned the 11th, which seems under-performed and recorded. Shostakovich's music is extremly pictorial to me. His chamber music tops, especially those with piano. Also try the piano concertos, they're extremely sarcastic in parts and in others, soul-wrenching and tender.
ljan
7 posts
 
i'm not familiar with Anner Bylsma but my favourite of the bach cello suites, (gendron, fournier, casals) is still Fournier. I just don't understand Casal's bach Cello Suites. As for the sonatas and partitas, my order of preference are Szeryng or Grumiaux, 1960s Milstein. I feel like sucking old cardboard when I hear the Szigeti. Maybe I'm just not philosophical enough for him.

I'm not a Yo Yo Ma fan either. He's a great person and I appreciate his efforts to explore various music but he simply doesn't move me the way Natalia Gutman, Rostropovich, Fournier do.

The shostakovich cello concerto is really worth hearing live (oh god, i forgot which one, the one that opens with the 4 repeated drummings (three short and one long)......) It's extremely impressive and overwhelming... emotionally, energetically, and technically. I have a Rostropovich Svetlanov recording from the world premiere which isn't bad, but ofcourse the acoustics is compromised.

Have you tried Bartok's string quartets?

Linda, whose CDs have been gathering dust across the pacific.
rcprince
3,073 posts
 
Ljan, the 11th is indeed underperformed, it really requires a lot of concentration not only from the musicians but especially the audience. Most concertgoers stateswide aren't ready for that, certainly not the mainstream classical radio stations. Listened to the Cello Concerto No. 1 last night with its incredible cadenza between the second and third movements, definitely should add that to the list of pieces to hear, as well as the violin concerto (Hahn does a decent job with that, though there are better I'm sure). Shostakovich has a way with his slow movements of conveying great longing and emotion, always strike a chord with me.

By the way, what's with CDs gathering dust across the Pacific?
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