Shostakovich 25th Anniversary Edition
Two Pieces from Scarlatti, opus 17[a]; Symphony No. 4 in C minor, opus 43[b].
Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Wind Section of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra[a]; USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra[b].
Praga PR 7250090. ADD. TT 73:40.
Listed as Czech Radio Broadcasts, 7 July 1981[a]; 28 May 1985[b].

NOTE: Since this review was written, I have confirmed my suspicion that the recording on this CD of the Two Pieces from Scarlatti is a reproduction of an original recording made in Russia, not Prague. For reference purposes, my review is reproduced unedited, but the recording venue and date data above, as listed by Praga, are incorrect. As explained below, the recording of the Fourth Symphony on this reissue is also misidentified. Full details are contained in my report in DSCH No. 15 on misattributed recordings on the Praga label. WMR.

If the Fourth Symphony presented here is not in fact Rozhdestvensky's Melodiya studio recording (MCD 156, reissued on Melodiya two-fer 74321-63462-2) with a live-audience track superimposed, then the conductor must keep a metronome at his podium! When the two pressings are played simultaneously, Praga's cough-ridden performance tracks perfectly alongside the studio version for many minutes at a stretch, far longer than should be humanly possible. Over time one gains very slightly on the other, but minor variation in transfer speed is not uncommon in Eastern bloc pressings, so this does not prove that the two have different sources. The track lengths are identical for the second movement, and timing differences for the outer tracks can be attributed to dead air and applause.

One might counter that close similarities are only to be expected, since the recording year given for both performances is the same. But would, for instance, the violins and cellos be able to deliver twice such uncannily similar semiquaver chases in the first movement's Presto (Fig. 63, indexed on Praga by the start of a new track)? Would one of the trumpet players fracture the same note in exactly the same way at Fig. 243-5 of the last movement (15:47 on Praga; 22:18 on Melodiya, who do not give a new track to the Allegretto)?

Another thing: the skeletal rattles on woodblocks, castanets and snare drum that close the second movement take precedence over the whispered violin melody in both versions, to an identical degree. I suspect that Rozhdestvensky would have added at least some emphasis to the string line to compensate for the white noise of a live audience if one had really been present.

The clincher is that with the two versions running in synchrony at the end of the first and second movements, the performers start playing the following movement at precisely the same time, even though on Praga the gap at the beginning of the next track is filled with coughs and rustling. That's just too large a coincidence for me to swallow.

Not having to hand the BMG/Melodiya two-fer with the Scarlatti Pieces (74321-59058-2), I cannot comment on the source of Praga's coupling, but no audience is in evidence. These are the 22-year-old Shostakovich's transcriptions for winds and timpani of harpsichord works by Domenico Scarlatti. Written at the request of Nikolai Malko, they were premièred on 25 November 1928 by the conductor at a Moscow concert that also hosted the first performances of Tahiti Trot and the suite from The Nose.

The Scarlatti Pieces are neo-Classical bonbons that would surely have delighted Stravinsky. The first piece, Pastorale, uses no brass, and has a warm glow. I find its bassoon trills especially endearing. The second piece, Capriccio, is more impish, with hints of "Three Blind Mice", and its trombone slides are redolent of Stravinsky's Pulcinella. Both are played with sly good humour by the USSR SSO's wind section and timpanist.

Even if Praga's source for these recordings is as they claim, there is no reason to put up with audience noise in the symphony when the indistinguishable Melodiya performance comes with clean (albeit bizarrely balanced) acoustics. Le Chant du Monde have been informed of my suspicions, and I expect to be able to report the results of their investigation in DSCH No. 15. In the meantime, give this reissue a wide berth.

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