For Shostakovich lovers
like myself 2006 is proving to be a
fantastic year. Recordings are pouring
out month after month - a worthy musical
celebration of his centenary. In this
case Naxos has added some of his works
that are less often heard - always something
to be applauded.
The Execution
of Stepan Razin, written in
1964, tells the story of the 17th
century Cossack leader who unsuccessfully
mounted a rebellion against Tsar Alexis
I, the father of Peter the Great and
who paid the ultimate price. Yevtushenko’s
poem has his disembodied head laughing
at the Tsar in a final mocking gesture.
Unfortunately this recording just doesn’t
punch its weight - the performance is
lacklustre with the orchestra missing
the opportunity to throw its weight
behind the music and the soloist failing
to make an impact with a voice not quite
rich enough in tone and an inability
to provide convincing Russian to support
the text. The chorus too are below par
all of which is a shame in a work more
rarely heard than many others by this
brilliant composer. Those wanting to
have a much more rich and satisfying
experience of this music would do well
to seek out the Chandos recording with
The Russian State Symphony Orchestra
and Capella under Valeri Polyansky (CHAN
9813) coupled with the 6th.
Symphony - review.
Unfortunately the symphonic
poem October, written
in 1967 to mark the 50th
anniversary of the Revolution, fares
no better with the orchestra again failing
to get its collective musical muscle
behind the work which results in a lukewarm
performance than doesn’t make a sufficiently
good case for the music.
The even more rarely
heard Five Fragments,
written in 1935 as a kind of practise
run for the ill-fated Fourth Symphony
- unheard in its orchestral score until
some thirty years after it was written
- are better played with the spiky humour
brought out to the fore. These are very
short pieces but prove once again what
a wealth of ideas Shostakovich could
inject into tiny packages.
Steve Arloff
see also review
by Brian Burtt
Seattle Symphony/Gerard Schwarz 
