Hypothetically Murdered, orchestral suite, op. 31a (reconstructed Gerard McBurney, May 1993); The Gadfly, orchestral suite, op. 97a.
Vladimir Fedoseyev, Tchaikovsky Orchestra.
Saison Russe RUS 288170. DDD. TT 62:27.
Recorded Large Studio of Moscow Radio, 6 - 10 June 2000.

Hypothetically Murdered is one of the curiosities of Shostakovich's youth, one that no doubt suffers its place at the bottom of the listening list because of its association with vaudeville and circus theatre. The 1931 show, featuring the founder of the Tea-Jazz Ensemble, Leonid Utyosov, was billed as a "Light Music Circus Entertainment in 3 Acts", not exactly a testimony of serious art from a composer best known for his tragedy-laden symphonies.

Yet, ignoring Hypothetically Murdered is a mistake. The first time I listened to this music, I was not only amazed at its complexity and ingenuity, but also convinced that the composer did not merely toss off some pop music for mass consumption, but instead invested compositional genius in this work. Some of its music lives on in one of Shostakovich's greatest masterpieces, the opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. "Vaudeville" hardly does the work justice - think of the underlying mean streak in the gallops of Lady Macbeth and the sarcasm in the schmaltzy music of The Golden Age, sprinkled with the sparse darkness of Five Fragments, and you get a rough idea of Hypothetically Murdered's sound-world.

In many ways, this score takes the techniques developed in Shostakovich's earlier ballets one step further. There are signs of a maturing style and a truly wicked sense of humour, plus a great gift for bridging the gap between popular dance hall music and the serious craft of composition. The music may sound trite and at places even mindless, but it is not trivial. On the contrary, it is loaded with the trademarks of a genius seriously at work. The opus is a delightful demonstration of how spontaneously funny music can be - if The Nose was a compendium of rude effects, then Hypothetically Murdered is the epilogue, with an entire addendum on the imaginative use of a flexatone.

McBurney's orchestration is magnificent; the sound certainly seems consistent with the composer's works of that period. The original score was lost during the Leningrad siege, but a piano score survives. McBurney says that he reconstructed the orchestral score based on the instrumentation marked out in the margins of the piano score, and by drawing on later compositions in which Shostakovich reused the material.

"When Mila Kovnatskaya found the original of the Overture and the second movement (neither in my reconstruction) it turned out I'd got two or even three details wrong. But the sound was basically right," McBurney told me. He reconstructed twenty-one numbers using the configuration of Utyosov's Tea-Jazz Ensemble as a guide. The score includes parts for soprano and tenor saxophone, accordion, and an "out-of-tune upright pianoforte".

McBurney's orchestration and reconstruction received its première recording by Mark Elder and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1993 on Cala (CACD 1020), with elaborate CD notes written by McBurney himself. The disc also features the première of McBurney's orchestration of the Fourth Pushkin Romance from op. 46, and performances of Five Fragments, op. 42, and the Suite No. 1 for Jazz Band, sans op. E.

This current recording by Fedoseyev and the Tchaikovsky Orchestra is only the second recording of McBurney's score. It is rather unfortunate, then, that Saison Russe present only fourteen of the twenty-one numbers, a deficit of another ten minutes of music that would have fit onto the CD. The missing numbers are not all gems, but surely brilliant pieces like Storm (No. 7) and Dance (No. 9) ought to have been included. I strongly suspect an artistic decision at work here, however, as not only are the key movements retained, but consideration seems to have gone into shaping a satisfying programme that is well paced and less disjointed than the complete set tends to be.

Fedoseyev treats the work as a symphonic suite, painting it with a lush and rich orchestral sound that is captured with great brilliance by Saison Russe's engineers. There is close miking, but the overall balance is masterly. On the other hand, the première recording by Elder is a complete document that is a thrill to listen to. His is a much livelier affair, transparent and more intimate, with the performers' enthusiasm often evoking this work's vaudeville and theatrical spirit. These are significant differences in approach - those who enjoy the madcap hysteria of this Shostakovich genre will prefer Elder's interpretation, even though some solos tend to be rather vulgar, whereas Fedoseyev may serve newcomers better by supplying an experience closer to the concert sound of the composer's major symphonic works.

Fedoseyev starts the suite with the third number (Transition to the Field), which, together with the fourth (The Field), acts as a convincing overture, with its powerfully dark colours, a trademark Shostakovich sound combining low strings with tuba and gurgling bassoons and bass clarinet. The mood is nervous, reminiscent of moments in Lady Macbeth, with some excellent woodwind solo playing in The Field.

Act 2 begins with a change of mood - the circus begins with a zany Petrushka, originally scored for accordion and clarinet. Fedoseyev gives the entire solo to the clarinet and adds flutes to the rude chords, to marvellous effect. It is the only time he takes it much faster than Elder, with the clarinet tumbling around like a similar passage in The Golden Age.

Fast-forward to Number 11, Waitresses, a carefree ditty featuring the trumpet in triplets that sounds truly silly at Fedoseyev's casual stroll. Elder shaves a whole minute off this, eliciting more of the music's circus atmosphere. To Elder's advantage, the drum-kit player exercises plenty of restraint with the hi-hats, while Fedoseyev's accentuates the music's banality with his dull square-beat.

Act 3 brings us to a cabaret in heaven (where else?) and sets the stage for some remarkable music making. The two Paradise scenes are appropriately heavenly, with the Tchaikovsky Orchestra's lush strings lending the music a sheen that Elder's version lacks, his being more true to a ballroom atmosphere. The ensuing Adagio is one of Fedoseyev's best movements, a smoky blues, using a variety of muted trumpets. The drummer coaxes exquisite effects from his suspended cymbals, and the alto sax and oboe give equally stunning performances. Elder's players are a bit sleazier; his open trumpet lip-glides as if made of rubber, and the honky-tonk piano in the background lends a deliberately cheap flavour better suited to Utyosov's stage show than to concert conditions.

The Bacchanalia is the work's main link to the opera Lady Macbeth, as it was used complete in the scene of Aksinya's molestation and contains much of the hysteria and the mean streak displayed in the opera. Elder takes it at a dizzying speed that mirrors the frenzy of Rostropovich's recording of the opera (EMI 7 49955 2). Fedoseyev, although taking a whole minute longer, retains a sense of underlying terror with his sharp and hard-hitting execution. The vibrant sound of a full orchestra in a warm hall also heightens the terror underlying this seemingly innocuous gallop.

Fedoseyev also makes a better show of The Archangel Gabriel number - reused in the Finale of the First Piano Concerto - which, at its more leisurely pace, allows the saxophone to show off its cheek. It is here that Elder's need for speed overtakes the intention of the music.

The final number, Dance of the Temporary Victors, was originally the Finale to Act 1 but McBurney uses it to end the entire suite to good effect. It is vintage Shostakovich, with the potential to annoy as much as to amuse. Regardless, I found myself whistling the tune after a week's auditioning! Opening with a deliberately pompous orchestral declamation, Fedoseyev cashes in with much swagger. He prefers a slower trot than does Elder in this number, missing out on a valuable aspect of the music's madness but really driving those incessant trombone glissandi home, an effect that might truly irritate on a bad day. The drummer ups the banality factor with his mundane two-beat on the hi-hats.

Opening this number, Elder's strings overdo their vulgar portamenti. What Elder does next, however, is rather attractive, expertly accelerating to the final ditty, a silly, irreverent tune which he takes at a bristling pace, giving the music a final, exhilarating rush. The CBSO players phrase more imaginatively than the Tchaikovsky Orchestra's musicians. In the end, however, Fedoseyev is the one who finishes in style, a marvellous example of a comedy of excess at its best, with the whistle and gong giving their all for a truly hilarious finish, as compared to Elder's surprisingly well-behaved closing.

Which recording is preferable is a matter of taste. Completists will want Elder's full set, but Fedoseyev's orchestral sweep is irresistible, and his straight-playing style gives the music a lot more dignity that it demands. If the coupling is the deciding factor, then you may consider that where Fedoseyev excels in Hypothetically Murdered, he fails in The Gadfly.

If this film score is your main objective, then you should consider Leonid Grin's account on Capriccio (10 298). Fedoseyev dashes off this marvellous score in an efficient manner that, in comparison to Grin's dramatic flair and flexibility, does not convey the full potential of the music. Fedoseyev's Overture, for example, shaves an entire minute off Grin's broader, more compassionate reading. The difference is most stark in the nostalgic Prelude, where Fedoseyev clocks in two minutes faster at the expense of the saxophone ensemble's exquisitely poignant reprise.

As in Hypothetically Murdered, Saison Russe do not present the complete suite, excluding some of the darker movements, perhaps to lighten the mood of this concert. The approach makes sense in the context of the disc as a programme of light music, but for a truly rewarding experience of The Gadfly you will want the Capriccio issue.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend Fedoseyev's reading of Hypothetically Murdered: he strikes a nice balance between lunacy and artistry in what I consider to be another fine example of the young composer's genius.

CH Loh
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DSCH No. 15.
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