Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad" (Dmitry Shostakovich)

Album review

The success of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony has always brought with it a certain degree of ridicule, especially outside of his homeland. On the exterior, it is a work of great simplicity (although some would prefer to call it crudeness). Its expressive depth, however, is another matter altogether; the symphony contains a multitude of emotions and references, all of which relate to the events surrounding the Second World War in the early '40s. Especially jealous of the symphony's success were other composers, notably Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, who inserted a snide quotation within the fourth movement of his Concerto for Orchestra. American composer Virgil Thomson, remarking on the popularity of the symphony, scoffed that it was "written for the slow-witted, the not very musical and the distracted." The fact is, with the German invasion into the city and their attempt to starve the city into surrender, most of Leningrad's population was distracted in 1941 (the year in which the symphony was finished). A good performance of the work will typically overcome most of its compositional flaws, creating a historical display of psychological and emotional power, raw physical energy notwithstanding. Evgeny Svetlanov should be in his element here. As the liner notes dictate (and as his loud and ferocious grunting proves), Svetlanov is tightly connected with this music. Born in Moscow, he, like many of his fellow citizens, first heard the piece performed huddled around a radio as a young boy during the German occupation. Although it would have been somewhat more authentic to hear this disc recorded with his more frequent partner -- the USSR Symphony -- the Swedish Radio Symphony featured here draws an interesting but overall good mix of playing. Less husky and pallid, and with more warmth in their sound, the Swedish players still give a cold bite of Soviet air to the performance, producing a hybrid sound somewhere between that of a Russian and a more traditional European orchestra. Unfortunately, even if Svetlanov is tightly connected to this work, the performance here is disappointing. The most difficult element of this gargantuan, 75-minute work is pacing it in a way that can sustain interest (and breath). Svetlanov fails on both accounts. Especially in the first-movement tempi, which are on the slow side to begin with and then become slower and slower throughout. So slow, in fact, is the tempo during the final chorale that the brass players, no longer able to maintain breath support, finally give out. The weight and intensity of the string sound also suffers. There is one hidden gem, though, in the form of an exquisitely phrased and mysterious clarinet solo at movement end. Svetlanov shapes the second movement with a nice lilt, which allows the orchestra to shine. A poignant oboe solo, virtuosic playing in the passage scored for flutes and bass clarinet, and the sweet and sensitive string playing all work together to create a well played, clean, and effective atmosphere. The third movement, ripe with influence from Stravinsky and Mahler, seems to suffer from the same lack of direction that plagues the first. The fourth movement, perhaps the best overall, unfortunately contains a number of hiccups (including a sizeable one at the beginning of the fast section). The mixed meter section is well done, though; the large reverberation in the hall helps give an eerie weight and depth to the Mahlerian bow crashes. A chilling violin solo, just barely audible, is heard in the haunting middle section where everything else has died to a bleak hush. Though the final section is excruciatingly slow, it does manage to give some balance to Svetlanov's weighty tempo in the opening. For a live recording the sound is relatively good and the audience noise is minimal. Depending on your tastes, however, Svetlanov's grunting and groaning will either distract you or draw you into his emotional world. While collectors may find this disc of interest, others can easily pass this one by for better readings by Mravinsky, Gergiev, and Bernstein.
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