Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 2, 3, 12 & 13
4864965 (Deutsche Grammophon, CD, 3 discs)
FIRST RELEASE (20 October 2023)
Playing time: 167'
Tracks: 15
℗ 2023 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH
© 2023 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH
Main country of recording: United States of America
Reviewer: Geoff Pearce
Review of Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 2, 3, 12 & 13 published on 26 September 2023
Matthias Goerne, bass-baritone (CD3)
New England Conservatory Symphonic Choir (CD3)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus (CD1 and CD3)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975):
CD1
Symphony No 2 in B major, Op 14 'To October'
1 Largo
2 Chorus: 'My schli, my prossili raboty i chleba'
Symphony No 3 in E flat major, Op 20 'The First of May'
3 Allegretto - Allegro
4 Andante
5 Allegro - Largo
6 Moderato 'The First of May'
CD2
Symphony No 12 in D minor, Op 112 'The Year 1917'
1 Revolutionary Petrograd (Moderato - Allegro)
2 Razliv (Allegro - Adagio)
3 Aurora (Allegro)
4 The Dawn of Humanity (L'istesso tempo)
CD3
Symphony No 13 in B flat minor, Op 113 'Babi Yar'
1 Babi Yar: Adagio
2 Humour: Allegretto
3 In the Store: Adagio
4 Fears: Largo
5 A Career: Allegretto
In this latest installment of their acclaimed Shostakovich cycle, Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra explore the composer's shifting identity and political convictions under the Soviet regime, tracing with the four symphonies on this album a thirty-five-year span in Shostakovich's creative and personal evolution: from youthful idealism to mature disillusionment and resignation.
Recorded in November 2019 (Symphonies Nos 2 and 12), 8 October 2022 (Symphony No 3) and 5 May 2023 (Symphony No 13) at Symphony Hall, Boston, USA.