DSCH CD Review, The Bolt

DSCH Journal

DSCH CD Review

Shostakovich 25th Anniversary Edition
The Bolt, Symphonic Suite, opus 27a, Nos. 1, 2, 5, 3[a]; Symphony No. 10 in E minor, opus 93[b].
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra[a]; Yevgeny Mravinsky, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra[b].
Praga PR 7250053. ADD stereo[a]; mono[b]. TT 63:37.
Recorded live Smetana Hall, Prague 7 January 1983[a]; 3 June 1955[b].

The Czech players have a jolly old time with these swaggering numbers from The Bolt, and the live audience is appreciative enough to contain most of their contributions to the intervals between numbers and to their ovation. The recording is full-bodied, not surprisingly given its relatively recent vintage.

Mravinsky, Leningrad PO, Symphonies Nos. 6 and 10

Running to less than 13 minutes, though, these extracts from The Bolt do not a main course make, and the mono Tenth Symphony is unappetising. This is no slur against Mravinsky's hair-raising interpretation or the Leningrad Philharmonic's white-hot delivery. The performance is undeniably transfixing. Still, more accurate playing, better recorded can be heard in the same team's 1976 document appearing on a comparably priced BMG/Melodiya CD (74321 25198 2) which also boasts a devastating Sixth Symphony. The engineering on the present disc shows its age, and the Prague audience should do an ad for Vicks. This release is for completists only.

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