Symphony No. 9 in Eb major, opus 70; Two Choruses after A. Davidenko, opus 124, for chorus and orchestra[a]; Concerto No. 1 for piano, trumpet and string orchestra in C minor, opus 35[b]; The Adventures of Korzinkina, opus 59, Suite from music to the film[c].
Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Symphonic Cappella[a,c], Tatiana Polyanskaya (piano)[b,c], Vladimir Goncharov (trumpet)[b], Elena Adamovich (piano)[c].
Chandos CHAN 10378. DDD. TT 66:28.
Recorded at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, June 2003.

This Chandos release contains a varied selection of works, linked by elements of circus music (with the exception of opus 124) and interconnected instrumental forces: the pianist from the concerto (the conductor's daughter) reappears—with a friend—in The Chase from opus 59; Polyansky's first-rate choir feature in both opus 59 and opus 124.

Polyansky's account of Symphony No. 9 is marred by the second movement, which is much slower than the speed desired by Shostakovich (crotchet = 208) and—at 7:57—is on a par with Oleg Caetani's recording (Arts Music 47675-2; reviewed in DSCH No. 22). Unfortunately the solo clarinet lingers unnecessarily between phrases, ignoring the fact that Shostakovich changed the time signature from 3/4 to 4/4 at each phrase end to allow a one-beat rest. Even worse, the reverberant acoustic blurs the rich tones of the clarinet, particularly when the line is chromatic. W. Mark Roberts made a similar complaint about the Chandos/Polyansky recording of Symphony No. 10 (CHAN 9522, reviewed in DSCH No. 15).

Davidenko's two unaccompanied choruses formed part of The Path to October (1927), a collaborative cantata written for the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. Shostakovich's orchestration, made in the early 1960s, has been recorded only once before, by Rozhdestvensky with the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir, for which Polyansky was chorus master (Melodiya LP C10 31619 002). The first chorus, At ten versts from the capital, is a mostly homophonic Eb minor lament for the mass execution and burial of revolutionaries. In contrast, The street in turmoil is a more polyphonic and jubilant call to overthrow the Tsar, using the bright, joy-affirming key of C major. Polyansky's recording is the first on CD for this rare revolutionary curio, sung with superb diction and intonation by the Russian State Symphonic Cappella.

Both soloists and orchestra give a very spirited performance in the concerto. Goncharov deserves a special mention for his spooky muted trumpet in the second movement, radically different from any other recording I have heard. There are extra col legno percussive effects in the final movement at figure 74, which are neither in the old Collected Works score (Volume 12) nor all recordings, though they appear in Jerzy Maksymiuk's recording with Dmitri Alexeev, piano, and Philip Jones, trumpet; (Classics for Pleasure 382 2342). Their presence definitely adds bite to the frenetic Presto.

The music from the comedy film The Adventures of Korzinkina has only been recorded twice before, by Rozhdestvensky (BMG/Melodiya 74321 59058 2; reviewed in DSCH No. 11; deleted) and Mnatsakanov (Citadel CTD 88129; reviewed in DSCH No. 11; deleted). Polyansky's recording is definitely superior, with the most impressive pianissimo ending—well done to the Chandos sound engineers for capturing this. In comparison, Rozhdestvensky's recording is hampered by poor recording conditions; Mnatsakanov's suffers from bad intonation in the opening movements and a pedestrian Restaurant Music. Eric Roseberry's liner notes need clarification: the "concertina tune borrowed from the Leningrad Circus" heard in Finale was used by Musin, a popular clown and star of the film; Shostakovich's orchestration of Musorgsky's Song of the Flea was used in the film (see John Riley, Dmitri Shostakovich: A Life In Film; reviewed in DSCH No. 22). Though identified by Roseberry as the suite assembled by Rozhdestvensky, both Polyansky and Mnatsakanov actually perform the five movements as published in Volume 41 of the old Collected Works series: the brief Intermezzo (No. 5 in Rozhdestvensky's suite) is missing and the ending of the Finale is different. For example, in Rozhdestvensky's version there is a G minor chord one bar before the final interjections of "Yanya" (the diminutive form of Korzinkina) and a shift to G major as the tenors enter; in Volume 41 this bar has a G major chord.

This CD may well be attractive to collectors chiefly because of opus 124, but I would also recommend it for the concerto and Korzinkina. Roseberry's notes, with a thought provoking description of Symphony No. 9, are available in German and French translations, together with the texts for opus 124 and opus 59 (Finale) in English, German, French and Cyrillic Russian.

Fiona Ford
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