Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11

Album review

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 means something entirely different to Russian audiences than it does to Western audiences. For one thing, a Russian audience knows that the themes of the Eleventh are actually themes from folk and protest songs and understands the emotional resonance of those songs. For another thing, a Russian audience knows the historical context of the songs and understands the historical meaning of that context. And, finally, a Russian audience knows exactly how much sincerity and how much irony, how much terror and how much triumph there is in Shostakovich's Eleventh, in other words, it understands how to understand the work. Nevertheless, it is a measure of the immediacy of Shostakovich's Eleventh that even a Western audience can be shaken by the work, can be roused even to riot because of its overwhelming power.
In this 2004 recording, Alexander Lazarev and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra turn in a performance of the Eleventh that surpasses the best contemporary recordings and rivals the best of past performances. Lazarev is a conductor of steel harmonies, metal rhythms, and expressive themes and his Eleventh is tragic, personal, and tangible. The Scottish National responds to him with force, energy, and sensitivity and the result is a performance that goes beyond resonance and context and achieves universality. Linn's sound is very real, very near, and very loud.

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