Best Shostakovich Symphony Recordings?

Comments ( 2 )

1. del_icious_manager says

   Usually, no complete set of recordings is equally good throughout.

   The classic recordings of Nos 5 and 10 are those by Yevgeni Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Other great recordings of these symphonies are by the USSR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich (No 5) and Yevgeni Svetlanov (No 10).

   No 11 has received many great recordings. Although I am NOT a fan of Rostropovich as a conductor (he was pretty awful in my opinion and should have stuck to the cello), his LSO Live recording is somehow very good

   There is a new set of Shostakovich symphonies being issued on the budget label Naxos. Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The three symphonies you are interested in have already been released and are very good indeed and have excellent sound (which some of the older recordings I have mentioned cannot match).

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2. Dave U says

   For the tenth symphony I’d recommend Skrowaczewski and The Halle Orchestra:
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000000TKH/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&storeAttribute=m&qid=1319998489&sr=1-33&submit.see-all-buying-options=see-all-buying-options&condition=all
   Or, the 2CD edition including the fifth would be great value.

   The fifth symphony is a little more difficult to make recommendations for. It has been recorded many times in widely differing interpretations and which you will find most satisfying rather depends on what you expect from this work.
   Andre Previn’s old recording with the LSO has stood the test of time well, and has been excellently remastered:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-Music-Film-Hamlet/dp/B0000DBDN0/ref=sr_1_20?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320012222&sr=1-20
   Temirkanov and the St Petersburg Phil have this music running through their veins, and give a gutsy, authentically russian performance:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphonies-Nos-5-9/dp/B000003G4D/ref=sr_1_49?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320012925&sr=1-49
   For a cooler, more polished performance I’d suggest perhaps Levi and the Atlanta SO:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-No/dp/B000003CW1/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320013324&sr=1-4
   or possibly Haitink with the Concertgebouw:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-No-5-Dmitri/dp/B00000E2L8/ref=sr_1_15?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320013409&sr=1-15

   For the eleventh, again Haitink with the Concertgebouw are very good:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-No-Year-1905/dp/B00000IP3F/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320013594&sr=1-6
   as too are Mariss Jansons:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-Suite-Waltz-Tahiti/dp/B000002RW1/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320013594&sr=1-5
   and Neeme Jarvi:
   http://www.amazon.com/Symphony-11-Year-1905-Shostakovich/dp/B00000E4GG/ref=sr_1_9?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320013594&sr=1-9

   If you don’t know it already, the fourth symphony is a cracker:
   http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Symphony-No-4/dp/B000000SH5/ref=sr_1_27?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320014007&sr=1-27
   conducted here by Rostropovich (who knew Shostakovich personally), and this superb box set of all the symphonies is available fairly cheaply:
   http://www.amazon.com/Symphonies-1-15-Dmitri-Shostakovich/dp/B000NJM1H8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320014111&sr=1-1
   Happy (?) listening.

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