Search - Shostakovich, Mnatsakanov :: Maxim Trilogy / Bilinsky Op 85

Belinsky is one of Shostakovich's best film scores!

Steve Forsyth | Denton, TX USA | 08/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shostakovich's film scores are very hit and miss. He himself admitted it was not his favorite area of music. A great many of them bear the mark of a man trying to both appease the state and keep his family fed with overtly patriotic and heroic scorings of some of the Soviet Unions darkest days. As such, there is little life, much repetition, and almost none of the Shostakovich we know in many of these works. Yet here on this disk we have some shining examples of what Shosty was capable of when he was actually interested in a project and paired with the right filmmakers.



THE MAXIM trilogy that starts things off is not the best in his filmic repretoire, but it has its moments, most notably the brooding "DEATH OF THE OLD WORKER."



PIROGOV, which ends the dis, does much better in communicating the true sound of Shostakovich, though it is a relatively short offering.



But it is BELINKSY that is the shining star of this collection. Of all the scores, and I've heard many of them, this is one of the outright best. It ranks up with HAMLET and GADFLY, in my opinion. The "SORROWFUL SONG" (Track 10), the longest track on the disc at 11 minutes, is almost a work unto itself with its trademark brooding nature and mix of male and femal chorus throughout. Later tracks in the suite bring to mind the heroic and epic sweeps of the recent LORD OF THE RINGS soundtracks!



The performance is outstanding and the recording is sufficient, though not quite top-notch for audiophiles.



All in all, this is worth getting if you are a rabid Shostakovich fan - especially if you haven't found much to like in his other film scores. I really would like to see the entire BELINSKY score recorded, and not just the suite we have here!"