Symphony No. 10 in E minor, opus 93.
Kurt Sanderling, Orchestre National de France.
Naïve Classique V 4973. A_D. TT 53:23.
Recorded live Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, 8 January 1978.

Radio France is the source of this bright, splashy, rather bass-light document of Shostakovich veteran Kurt Sanderling guest-conducting an ensemble for which opus 93 was hardly core repertoire. The live concert was performed just shy of a year after Sanderling and his own Berlin Symphony Orchestra took the score into the studio for Berlin Classics (0090182BC). It is a pity that his earlier recording is no longer in the catalogue, as it was a compelling account, featuring as extreme a Scherzo as any before or since. On its own terms, this new release has selling points, but for anyone seeking an authoritative Tenth Symphony recording it lags a fair distance behind the version on Berlin Classics.

On the plus side, this is undeniably an exciting performance, justifying the audience's enthusiastic applause that follows hard on the heels of the final tutti. Sanderling considers this to be "an anti-Stalin, anti-regime symphony", an interpretation made visual to the prospective buyer by Naïve's attractive packaging, with its cover photo from 1990 Budapest of the dismembered head and boot from a massive Stalin statue being hauled away on a hand cart. Showing no mercy to Radio France's orchestra, Sanderling works up a lather in the shrill second movement - a portrait of Stalin, in his view - and maintains high tension elsewhere.

The musicians deliver some noteworthy moments, particularly the strings, which default to sweeping gestures in climactic sections, in marked contrast to the clipped, punchy enunciation of the Berlin players. The French orchestra's oboist is particularly fine, delivering a most affecting solo in the finale. Most delicious of all are the fervent tambourine shake rolls in the climax of the third movement from Fig. 127/7:38; simple whacks on the instrument's head are all the score requests here, but this improvisation certainly adds to the surrealism of the scene!

Unfortunately, there are negative aspects to this concert. The horns are occasionally shaky, and sound rather winded when voicing the Elmira motif of the third movement. Oboe aside, woodwinds are weak, with imperfect coordination between clarinets following the first movement's climax, and sloppy piccolo work throughout (coincidentally, an indistinct piccolo trill at Fig. 165 in the fourth movement of the Berlin Classics recording is one of very few blameworthy moments in that performance). The woodwinds interrupt the unfolding of the first movement by pausing for breath in what should be a continuous transition from 2/4 to 3/4 time at Fig. 27-4/8:43.

Though the acoustics are serviceable, coughing obscures quiet passages from time to time, and there is insufficient pause between first and second tracks on the CD. On balance, then, this release is not top tier.

W. Mark Roberts
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