Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yaar"

Album review

Is this the greatest performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 ever recorded? Probably not. There are, after all, Kiril Kondrashin's three canonical recordings to consider: his 1965 live recording of the world premiere with the Moscow Philharmonic, his 1967 studio recording also with the Moscow Philharmonic, and his 1982 live recording with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks. Although Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic present in this 1995 recording a strongly argued, passionately persuasive performance that has plenty of individuality -- listen to the swaying tempo of the closing movement called "Career" -- and lots of interesting details -- listen to the rough-shod rhythms of the central scherzo called "Humor" -- it cannot quite measure up to the blood and iron power of any of Kondrashin's performances.
Is this the greatest performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 ever recorded by bass Sergey Aleksashkin? Probably so. Although his two other performances had their merits -- a muscular 1995 recording with Solti and a sorrowful 2005 recording with Jansons -- his performance here is as muscular as the Solti but with more sensitivity and as sorrowful as the Jansons but with more control, thereby making it his best and among the best available in digital.
So who is the audience for this disc? Listeners who love the piece, a stark and bitter condemnation of the crimes and abuses of the Soviet regime; listeners who love Aleksashkin, one of the former USSR's best basses; and listeners who love Temirkanov, one of the former USSR's best conductors. Those who already know the work will be more than satisfied, although those who don't know the work are urged to check out one or more of Kondrashin's recordings. RCA's mid-'90s digital sound is huge, dark, and imposing, wonderful qualities in recordings of Shostakovich's Thirteenth.

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