Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 6 & 15

Chronique

The Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 in A minor, Op. 141, was recorded soon after its composition in 1971 with the composer's son Maxim conducting. Many recordings have followed that dark reading in considering the work a testimony in the face of death, and the great Paul Griffiths, in the notes for this work, emphasizes the dark side. However, that is not the only way to look at it. For one thing, the symphony contains various quotations, and the one from Rossini's William Tell Overture in the first movement is quite witty. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda, leading the London Symphony Orchestra in the latest installment of the group's Shostakovich symphony cycle, takes the work fairly briskly and brings out a playful side. Even the second-movement Adagio sections are simply chorale-like, not funereal. It is an unorthodox reading, but the debate over how autobiographical Shostakovich's music was meant to be will not end here, and Noseda's execution is terrific, with accurate balances and beautiful string work from the orchestra. A bonus is the presence of the Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54, of 1939, not one of Shostakovich's more frequently played symphonic works. The original audience loved it, and this is easy to understand; the finale, especially in Noseda's crackling reading, is a real foot-tapper, but Stalinist critics noted disapprovingly the more experimental aspects of the work, with its unusual structure with each movement quicker than the last. Noseda's rather astringent reading catches these as well. Those who have enjoyed Noseda's cycle will find this recording quite satisfying, even if it may seem to lack a certain quantum of Russian gloom.
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