"Herbert von Karajan made precious few recordings of the music of the Russian contemporary Dmitri Shostakovich. I only know of two recordings he made of symphonies by Shostakovich, both made with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, both for DG, and both of the same 10th symphony.
The tenth is considered by musicologists to be the most conventional, or perhaps traditional, of the 15 symphonies Shostakovich composed. The tenth is certainly the most approachable for western audiences. The 5th symphony remains the most popular.
This recording was made in 1967, a period when the Berlin Philharmonic had been under Karajan's supervision for a decade, and was by then fully staffed with musicians of his own choosing. Many consider the period from about 1962 to 1972 to be the "heyday" of the Karajan/BPO collaboration. The performance in this recording gives considerable evidence to that opinion. The orchestra plays with fabulous energy and verve, while following the director's cues precisely. Karajan's direction brings out the wide range of moods Shostakovich is known for, such as somber resignation to an unfortunate fate, joyous but reserved exhaltation, or light and almost frivolous contentment. The diverse moods make the symphony a very difficult proposition for conductors, and Karajan proves himself a master with his handling of them all.
Karajan made another recording of the 10th in the 1980s in digital sound. The orchestra is still top notch, if only a slight bit less perfect than this performance. Karajan's reading in that recording is very similar. But, the recorded sound suffers from the defects of digital sound in its infancy. And the accoustic is much more confined and one-dimensional in comparison to this recording.
All Shostakovich fans should own this CD.
And for those not as inclined to the Soviet master's more adventuresome works, or those who find his music a little offensive or brash, this should please you very much.
Don't hesitate. Get it while you can.
I only wish DG had chosen this for one of their great remasterings in the "Originals" series. While I am pleased that they restored the great Ancerl recording of the 10th in that series (Amazon asin # B000060O5E, a special import not generally available in the USA), I would have much preferred they give this great recording the full treatment it deserves.
Maybe SACD will find take DG back to this classic . Lets hope so.
Sadly, DG released a "The Originals" series remastering of Karajan's less-superior (though still quite fine) 1980s digital remake of teh 10th in February 2006."
A MILESTONE
DAVID BRYSON | Glossop Derbyshire England | 08/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The 10th symphony is probably my favourite piece of Shostakovich. It is not unique - far from it - among his works in possessing power, anguished emotion and nobility of expression, but it has a coherence and unity of style that I don't always find in him. The construction is less episodic and more `durchkomponiert' than he often is, and the long first movement in particular rises to great heights through its sustained symphonic logic, of the kind I associate more with Beethoven and Brahms. As often, the influence of Mahler can be felt strongly, this time in the third movement; and the ostensibly `positive' conclusion is no triumph at all but a piece of noble and bitter irony. Stalin was not long dead when this symphony received its first performance, and I expect his monstrous incubus still lay over Soviet art of every kind during the period of its composition. Whether this led the composer to trim his artistic sails I don't know, nor do I really much care. The musical idiom is not especially radical, but I can well imagine that Shostakovich might have had some explaining to do to the cultural commissars when they heard that fierce and outraged second movement. I can rarely hear Shostakovich as `absolute' music - it is nearly always telling us something - but in the great first movement of this symphony his inspiration transcends his circumstances, much as Beethoven's did when he composed the Emperor concerto with pillows over his ears to protect the remnants of his hearing while his fallen idol Napoleon bombarded Vienna. The performance strikes me as flawless. I am not in general an enthusiast for Karajan, and even here I don't catch the special individuality that made Toscanini, Beecham and Furtwaengler who and what they were as interpreters. Nevertheless if I had heard this performance without knowing who the conductor was I could only have been struck forcibly by the power, commitment and discipline of the reading. I gather there is a later account by the same conductor and orchestra, costing more but allegedly better recorded. I have no complaints about the recorded quality of this one, and given the nature of the music that is not the consideration uppermost in my mind anyhow."
Near definitive Shostakovich from an unlikely source
Paul Bubny | Maplewood, NJ United States | 07/27/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"To appreciate the superiority of Karajan's late '60s Shostakovich Tenth to his digital remake of 15 years later, play the second movement on both recordings. The 1967 performance is dizzying, its (alleged) portrait of Stalin suggesting a machine that has gone dangerously out of control. The 1982 remake, only about a second slower, is far more tame, far less urgent. That's pretty much how it goes throughout: the digital remake is simply too smooth (although it has its admirers).
Even aside from comparisons between Karajan I and II, what we have here is the unlikely achieved: a conducting superstar known for prizing beauty of sound (sometimes to the detriment of the music) delivers a nearly definitive rendition of a mid-20th century symphony whose pages are imbued with bitterness, melancholy, and sardonic wit. The BPO here sounds like a (slightly more refined) Russian orchestra on overdrive. Perhaps the third movement could be a shade more grotesque and "ironic," but on the other hand the solo horn fanfare (based on the opening horn call of Mahler's "Das Lied von der Erde") sounds as chill and desolate as dawn on a winter morning in Moscow. Too bad, though, that DG still hasn't gotten around to remastering the slightly congested and harsh-sounding CD, perhaps for inclusion in its "Originals" series."
A Masterpiece of the 20th Century
T. Cheng | Diamond Bar, CA USA | 04/14/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Shostakovich's symphonic masterpiece is here played with feeling and verve from HVK and the BPO. From the composer who said that "all my symphonies are tombstones" here is an at once hearfelt sorrow and tragedy (the vast, desolate 1st movement), the famous schezo which depicts Stalin himself, and the finale in which DS uses his own monogram (DSCH from the first 4 letters of the German translation) to craft a finale which will push any orchestra to it's very edge. Karajan and the BPO have never played with more virtuosity than in the last 5-6 mins of this piece. With perhaps only the Mravinsky (mono alas) version comparable, this stunning recording belongs in evey collection.
"
The sound makes it a second to Karajan's remake
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/18/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I own both this 1966 analog recording and Karajan's early digital remake from 1982. I don't hear that much wrong with the digital sound (except for the inevitable edginess in the violins at forte and above)--it has more body, fullness, and naturalness than the earlier recording. The two interpretations aren't that different to my ears. Karajan in general was a conductor who crafted an interpretation and then kept to it for a long period of time, often decades.
Nor is either reading definitive. We have two recordings from Mravinsky (on Erato and Melodiya/BMG) that are much more authentically Russian, not to mention that Mravinsky was extremely close to the composer personally. But Karajan has the greater orchestra and better recorded sound by far. He treats the Shostakovich Tenth as a powerhouse that even the fine reading from Haitink can't match; both conductors leave Jansons, Rostropovich, Flors, and Solti far behind, although there is much to be said for the fiery, live 1966 Stokowski performance that is included in a 12-CD box set from the Chicago Symphony.
Karajan is least convincing in the two final movements, which typically for Shostakovich show a strong disjoin from the first half of the symphony and raise stylistic problems for both listener and conductor. Frankly, it's hard to keep them from being a letdown after the stirring emotions and huge scale of the first two movements.
If I only owned one recording of the Shostakovich Tenth, it would be the digital Karajan, and I would ontinue to wonder why, in light of its greatness, Karajan never recorded another single note of this composer's music."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1
