Shostakovich - The Thirties
Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 (1938)[a]; Suite on Finnish Themes (1939; listed as Seven Arrangements on Finnish Melodies)[b]; Two Fables by Krylov, op. 4[c]; The Silly Little Mouse, op. 56[d]; Petrushka - The Archangel Gabriel (orch. McBurney) and Overture - Destruction of the City (original versions)[e] from Hypothetically Murdered, op. 31; March and Waltz from the Suite for Variety Orchestra (1938).
Vladimir Ponkin, Orchestra of the Republican Guard, Alexei Martynov (tenor)[b], Elena Vassilieva (mezzo-soprano)[b,c]/(narrator)[d], and in [d]: Anne-Catherine Picca (sopranino - Mother Mouse), Florence Barreau (soprano - Aunt Cat), Tatiana Martynova (mezzo-soprano -Aunt Duck), Patrick Nogues (tenor - Aunt Mare), Mathieu Bulot (baritone - Aunt Piggy), Valeri Drougovkoy (bass - Aunt Toad), Alexis Konovaloff (bass - The Dog Polkan), Celia Allarty (the Little Mouse; spoken role), Inés Allarty (Aunt Pike; silent role).
Mandala MAN 5039 (distributed by Harmonia Mundi; HMCD 78). DDD. TT 61:46.
Live recording of a concert given on 16th January 2002 in the Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne University, Paris under the auspices of the Association Internationale Dimitri Chostakovitch (see also the review of the concert in this edition).
[a]World premiere audio release.
[e]World premiere recording.

Having no access to the video recording of the world premiere of the "real" Second Jazz Suite (Last Night of the Proms 2000; BBC DVD WMDVD8001-9) this was my first introduction to the work, here in its three-movement guise courtesy of Manashir Yakubov and Gerard McBurney's unearthing and arranging prowess.

As in the suite that formerly usurped this title, there are plenty of moments here to remind one of the splendidly droll side of Shostakovich's 1930s output. Wheeled-in saxophones, quirky dance rhythms and the unmistakable tongue-in-cheek melodies are all traits that were to strew the composer's theatre output from the 1920s to the 1960s.

However, gripe number one: the orchestra, in what has to be said is not the most challenging repertoire, sound a mite dishevelled in the pieces' tutti. Weren't there takes available from rehearsals? Gripe number two: the CD box proclaims "World Premiere" while the booklet notes announce the Proms premiere! Good to have these pieces on CD, all the same.

The well-publicised Finnish Folksongs (see review of premiere recording, above) have, in my opinion, received very unfair press up to now. Okay, they are uncontroversial, folksy, light-music pieces, but they nevertheless evoke a gentle national passion through their verses and through Shostakovich's lilting accompaniment.

But another gripe arises here, I'm afraid, and it's a fundamentally important one for this disc: soprano Elena Vassilieva's sturdy, vibrato-laden approach - more akin to Mozart's Don Giovanni than early-century Soviet Russian titbits - sits very uncomfortably in the majority of the pieces on this disc. The best example is the Two Fables by Krylov, where my preference is for the more lucid character of, say, Larissa Dyadkova on Deutsche Grammophon (439 860-2; deleted).

Another recorded rarity is the music to The Silly Little Mouse, from 1939. This music composed for a short animated film (based on a story by Marshak) is appealingly tuneful and inventively scored (the CD box lists no fewer than 10 soloists). "I took great pleasure in working on this composition," the composer is quoted in the generously annotated CD booklet. "It was my first experience in film music for children. I would like it to be a success and hope that children will enjoy this work. The music of this film is based on a lullaby in which the mouse, duck, pig, toad, horse, pike and cat sing in turn. The song (lullaby) varies according to the temperament of the character singing it; the music is joyous and lyrical. Unlike Marshak's version, the film has a happy ending: the baby mouse is not eaten by the cat; on the contrary, he is saved by Polkan, the dog." Annoyingly, we get too-closely-miked French narration, with the miscellany of sounds and voices (singing in Russian), plus orchestra, relegated to mid-stage.

Finally, to Hypothetically Murdered. Only four pieces are offered here, but two are world premieres, here in their original (i.e., pre-McBurney) versions: Overture and Destruction of the City. Fascinating to compare these recently discovered numbers (which share one track on the CD) with the commercialised version that hit the Shostakovich scene in 1992.

The March and Waltz (the final two tracks on the disc) were played as concert encores (and are announced on the recording as such). They originate from the Suite for Variety Orchestra composed by Shostakovich in 1938 (long catalogued as Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2). The ubiquitous Waltz actually prompts the by-now heady audience into a quick round of applause, Piaf-at-the-Ritz style, the moment the melody appears - is this a recorded first?

The origins of France's Orchestra of the Republican Guard go back to 1848; the current format combined in 1993. As I've already intimated, there are unfortunate ragged passages in this disc - counteracted, in part, by some good solo playing and a firm, if at times dogged, sense of rhythmical balance. It is impossible to judge the Siberian-born conductor Vladimir Ponkin's role in all of this. Given his CV (musical director of the Nemirovich-Danchenko & Stanislavsky Theatre), the reasons for some of the CD's more "difficult" moments could well come from lack of adequate rehearsals or the orchestra's unfamiliarity with the repertoire.

To conclude, some real musical gems lie beneath this live concert's surface. Those interested in "firsts" should be happy with the host of French and world premieres assembled here. Those content to collect these Shostakovich ditties slowly and precisely as they crop up in the standard CD catalogue may well be inclined to do just that.

Bernard Suchaux
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DSCH No. 17.
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