Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Thomas Sanderling, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra :: Shostakovich: Songs and Waltzes

Outstanding Shostakovich Tribute

D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 08/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc was issued during the Shostakovich centennial and is a valuable addition to the catalogue. The disc holds three of Shostakovich's vocal suites, originally for piano and voice, orchestrated here by Boris Tishchenko. The first suite - Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin - was composed less than a year before the composer's death. The text comes from Dostoyevsky's novel "The Devils." The songs are morbidly sarcastic with The Cockroach harkening to the Stalin purges. The humor of the poems is rather savage and is reflected well in the music.



Satires (Pictures from the Past) was written in 1960 and dedicated to Galina Vishnevskaya, who premiered the work and recorded it. The subtitle `Pictures from our Past" was not meant to conjure up a nostalgic picture of days gone by but the terrors of the past. The songs are described as romances and come from the poetry of Sasha Chorny. The songs are very theatrical, which were perfect vehicles for the dramatic singing of Galina Vishnevskaya. The Five Romances on Words from Krokodil Magazine No. 24 (1782) sounds like a footnote in an articles but was a popular satirical magazine published during the days of the Soviet Union. This is a very short suite with some ironic poetry. In Discretion, for example, the singer laments that he was beaten up by some hooligans but didn't report the crime to the police to avoid another beating. This orchestrated version of the suite was composed for this recording by Boris Tishchenko.



I must say that I never thought I would hear the Preface to the Complete Edition of my Works and a Brief Reflection Apropos the Preface much less an orchestrated version of this epigram. It is very much tongue-in-cheek especially when one considers the musical hacks that had official favor under Stalin.

The final work is a suite Eight Waltzes from film music. The suite is like the four ballet suites of light music from his early music that Shostakovich put together in the late 1940s.



Sergei Leiferkus is outstanding in the vocal suites with a perfect inflection in his voice conveying the sarcasm of the text. Thomas Sanderling does magnificent job conduction the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. This is a disc that anyone who loves Shostakovich's music will want to have.

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One of the best Shostakovich tributes in his centennial year

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It can't escape notice that the second song in this stunning collection of Shostakovich's satirical songs is called "The Cockroach." It seems like a peculiarly Russian title, redolent of Gogol, poisonous irony, earthy realism, and disgust. Shostakovich's satire always carries an uncomfortable edge because it suggests as much self-hatred as contempt for his intended victims--all of them totally unknown and uninteresting to us, except in the generalized way that we are happy to despise Stalinism and Soviet pomposity.



Just when I thought I'd had enough of Shostakovich's dark humor, along comes Sergei Leiferkus, an absolutely riveting singer, surely the best of the post-Soviet crop. His timbre is a little gargly and wobbly, but his artistry is totally convincing. To support him Thomas Sanderling condcuts dramatically, and the Russian Phil. (a group I've never heard of) plays exuberantly; they are caught in excellent sonics by DG.



I dare say that every item here will be new to Western listeners, even those who already follow Shostakovich closely. There's a wide range of melody and orchestral color, which keeps interest high. Still, fifteen songs is a lot to take in at one go; the suite of eight waltzes from various Shostakovich film scores is altogether lighter fare, and several turn out to be quite delightful in their slick, circus-brass band way. In sum, one of the best tributes to the composer in his centennial year."