In 1936, Josef Stalin, the dictator of the
Soviet Union, went to see a performance of Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk, an opera by the golden boy of Soviet Music, Dmitri
Shostakovich. The young composer rushed to the theatre, hoping
to bask in the glory of Stalin’s approval, only to discover
to his horror that the communist leader had left in disgust
after
the first act. The next day, the now infamous Pravda editorial
entitled Muddle instead of Music, which denounced Shostakovich
as a composer of confusing, jarring noise appeared. The composer
went immediately from socialist darling to a man in danger of
his very life. Some believe that the only reason he was spared
the gulags was because Stalin was in love with a patriotic song
that Shostakovich had composed for a propaganda film some years
earlier.
In a captivating hour of discussion, Michael Tilson Thomas
plays heir to the legendary Leonard Bernstein as he teaches
a fascinating lesson in musical analysis, political intrigue
and biography. He dissects Shostakovich’s complicated score, exposing the composer’s
protest, cleverly disguised as an apology. Did he compose a
great patriotic score, or did he use every ounce of his genius
to speak for a people oppressed and living in constant terror?
Tilson Thomas makes a strong case for the latter by pointing
out the many subtle twists and turns of motif and harmony,
revealing places where had Shostakovich chosen something as
minute as a single different note, the outcome would have been
completely different. In a well paced hour of discussion and
musical examples, Thomas not only presents an intelligent analysis
of the score, but gives us a good look into the complex and
tragic life of one of the twentieth century’s most significant
musical figures.
Following the documentary, MTT leads the San Franciscans in
a taut, well-paced reading of the symphony from a 2007 appearance
at the BBC Proms Concerts. There is no shortage of drama in
the boldly dissonant opening movement, yet Thomas never resorts
to the sort of extroverted emotionalism that was characteristic
of Bernstein’s later readings. The brief scherzo is delivered
with appropriate sarcasm, and then Thomas lowers the boom in
this exquisite reading of the hauntingly personal third movement.
He places just enough hurt into the music to make the bitterly
ironic final movement come across as the nose-thumbing that
it really is.
Production values are outstanding throughout, but I was disappointed that there was no documentation whatever in the booklet. Granted, Thomas tells you everything you need to know in the hour long documentary, but it would have been nice to have had some sort of outline to follow. This series would be a great aid to teachers teaching entry-level music appreciation classes.
Kevin Sutton
Documentary and performance by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Michael
Tilson Thomas 
