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Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Violin Sonata
Dmitry Shostakovich, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, John Novacek
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Violin Sonata
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (7) - Disc #1

Twenty years separate the composition of these two works. Both bear Shostakovich's signature traits: the emotional extremes, the mercurial mood and character changes, but the Concerto, written in 1948, is more assertive, f...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Dmitry Shostakovich, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, John Novacek
Title: Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1; Violin Sonata
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Warner Classics
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 6/20/2006
Album Type: Enhanced
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Concertos, Instruments, Strings, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 825646299720

Synopsis

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Twenty years separate the composition of these two works. Both bear Shostakovich's signature traits: the emotional extremes, the mercurial mood and character changes, but the Concerto, written in 1948, is more assertive, full-blooded, buoyant; the Sonata, written in 1969, is sparse, bitter, desolate. The Concerto's first movement is dreamy, meditative, held back in tempo and expression; long arching melodies rise and fall against a somber orchestral background. The second movement is a frantic, grotesque Scherzo; it quotes Shostakovich's initials (in the German spelling) D, E-flat, C, B, reportedly his secret way of asserting himself. The basses announce the brooding theme of the ominous, solemn Passacaglia; the soloist responds with a mournful lament. A cadenza of formidable difficulty and mounting tension leads into the Burlesque, a witches' dance of unrestrained wildness and enormous technical brilliance. The Sonata begins in the piano with widely spaced octaves, the first of many eerie sound effects; the violin's counter-melody is bleak, lifeless; the dynamics are subdued, the mood inward. The second movement is wild, loud, grotesque, an agonized outcry; the Finale is another Passacaglia, culminating in virtuosic cadenzas for each instrument before dying away. David Oistrakh, Shostakovich's friend and dedicatee of his violin works, had to wait six years to premier the first Concerto for political reasons; the Sonata was free of those clouds, but shadowed by the wings of death. Leila Josefowicz plays splendidly, with great bravura, unbridled passion and total identification with the music; her tone is beautiful but a bit unvaried. The orchestra is excellent; Novacek, though a fine pianist and partner, is often too loud. --Edith Eisler
 

CD Reviews

Fantastic !
Martin R. Lash | Sister Bay, Wisc | 06/27/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the best Shostakovich Violin Concerto #1 I have heard. It is taken a little slower than most but there is such depth of feeling and intensity that she surpasses all the competition. Other versions I have heard (including the recent Chang) tend to not get beneath the surface. I beleive Josefowicz really understands the tragedy of this music. She has a very interesting interview about herself and this recording in the July issue of Grampohone. It makes for interesting reading."
Superb new violin recordings
R. Hutchinson | a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds | 02/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Leila Josefowicz is soulful and technically impeccable in her Shostakovich performances. Sakari Oramo leads the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in fine form in the Violin Concerto No. 1, recorded live in Birmingham in January 2006, and this new recording stands up well next to the finest available recordings.



Here are some of those finest available recordings -- the 1994 recording by Maxim Vengerov with Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra for Teldec is my selection for the best of all. Of course David Oistrakh's recordings are still essential -- Shostakovich composed the work for him and his huge, round, resonanant tone and lyricism. Both of his 1956 recordings are amazing -- January 2 with Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic (on Sony, with Rostropovich performing the Cello Concerto), and November 18, 1956 with Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic (included in the fantastic Brilliant 10-disc Oistrakh box).



The Violin Sonata, from 1968, is more somber than the 1948 Concerto, which is deeply tragic, but also full of feisty resistance. (DSCH kept the Concerto in the drawer so as to avoid Stalin's wrath, and it was only first performed by Oistrakh in 1956.) Josefowicz, with John Novacek on piano, gives an excellent reading, but not as powerful as the 1985 Moscow recording by Oleg Kagan and Sviatoslav Richter (see my review of the Moscow Studio Archives disc released in 2003).



I wholeheartedly recommend Leila Josefowicz's Shostakovich interpretations! For more by the great 20th century composer, see my list, SHOSTAKOVICH: A LISTENER'S GUIDE."