Symphony No. 11 in G minor, The Year 1905, op. 103.
Mstislav Rostropovich, London Symphony Orchestra.
LSO Live LSO0030. DDD. TT 72:24.
Recorded live Barbican, London, March 2002.

This recording is one of the most important recordings of a mainstream Shostakovich work to appear in the past decade. Rostropovich achieved a similar success with his reading of Symphony No. 14 back in 1972, a version that continues to surpass all others before or since. It is likely that this performance of the Eleventh will be the new gold standard for years to come.

The story of the Eleventh, its depiction of the 1905 uprising, its likely genesis due to the 1956 Soviet squelching of the Hungarian revolution, and Shostakovich's use of revolutionary songs throughout, is all well-known and won't be covered here. Likewise, Rostropovich's association and deep friendship with Shostakovich is also very familiar to readers. Both artists saw enormous violence and continued revolution in Russia, while Rostropovich has lived to see and actively participate in the revolution ending Soviet power and establishing Glasnost.

Rostropovich first recorded the Eleventh in 1992 with the National Symphony Orchestra (Teldec 9031-76262-2). This recording has not been highly regarded - the playing was not tight and the interpretation was inconsistent, failing to come across as an architectural whole. Favoured far above it were performances by Mravinsky (1959; Revelation RV 10091; reviewed in DSCH No. 9; deleted), Stokowski (1958; EMI CDM 5 65206 2), and de Priest (1988; Delos D/CD 3080).

The current recording by Rostropovich is part of the London Symphony Orchestra's new venture of releasing their own live performances, and was made during Rostropovich's 75th birthday year. For his birthday celebrations, Rostropovich wanted - and got - to perform a Shostakovich series with the LSO both in London and in New York, which included the Symphonies Nos. 7, 8, and 11. This recording comes from the London performance. It is notable for being one of the longest on record, clocking in at almost 72 1/2 minutes, fully 12 minutes slower than Mravinsky's and over 18 minutes slower than Kondrashin's (BMG/Melodiya 74321 19843-2; deleted), and exceeded only by Polyansky's 73 1/2 (Chandos CHAN 9476). Rostropovich's previous version was nearly 69 minutes. The huge variability in timings - the score indicates a duration of approximately 60 minutes - is due mainly to differences in tempi used in the first and second movements.

Choosing exceedingly slow tempi in the Eleventh runs great risk of loss of cohesion and diffusion of interest, which occurs in Polyansky's reading. Nevertheless, Rostropovich maintains firm control throughout this massive work, resulting in an enormous span of uninterrupted tension and attention. The score calls for the first movement to be Adagio, quarter note = 66. Mravinsky's 15:25 minute version uses a tempo of ca. 72, while Rostropovich's 20:10 version uses ca. 60. Rostropovich's tempo seems incredibly slow to those who know the piece. The slowness exacerbates the icy mood of the Winter Palace Square and the huddled masses waiting outside in the cold and snow. The songs here have added weight and a greater sense of futility.

Due to the very slow first movement, the faster tempo of the second, The 9th of January, starts it off with a great sense of urgency. The tensions rise and then abate, until the infamous shooting sequence begins in the Allegro climax. Here, the score calls for half note = 108. Mravinsky's 18:20 minute version uses a much faster tempo of ca. 136, while Rostropovich's 21:27 version uses ca. 104. The latter's slower tempo, corresponding more closely than most to the score, intensifies the terror, and the gunshots and knifings are ever more violent. The quarter note - rest - quarter note beat on the bass drum sounds as huge, brutal thwacks, whereas in faster versions, they are less menacing poundings.

Directly after the climax of this section, the sound breaks off to the strings playing pianissimo, trilled, long-held notes. This part brings out one of the problems with this recording: the dynamic range is extreme, so that parts such as these become inaudible after turning the volume down during the battle scene so as to not scare the neighbours. Those with an isolated home (or isolation chamber) will revel in the extreme volume range, but practically it is excessive. In this quiet after the battle, Mravinsky's Leningrad strings play with great eeriness, and the effect is hair-raising. Rostropovich's LSO strings play too softly, and the effect is muted.

The third movement, In Memoriam, Adagio, commences with immense sorrow in the wonderful viola section solo. The solo figure sounds hesitant to those who are accustomed to a faster tempo, with the eighth note rest now being heard between the phrases. The halting nature of this passage can be viewed as a representation of the wounded and deceased.

The polemics that start up in the fourth movement, The Tocsin, are more studied and deliberate than in Mravinsky's version. The propaganda-sounding tunes and false cheery mood get jumbled and implode in Mravinsky, whereas in Rostropovich, they rise and then ineffectively sputter out, and suddenly all plunges again to the quiet, eerie trills in the strings. This brings back the revolutionary songs and builds into a fervour of determination and warning.

The chimes at the end often pose a problem: in Stokowski, the percussionist skips a rest and his last figure comes in a beat too soon, robbing the performance of a strong last beat. In Mravinsky, the chime seems to fail to sound in its last eighth note, again leaving the final note with less impact. In several versions, the chimes are almost inaudible. Rostropovich's chimes are appropriately loud and on the mark. He chooses to let the last note ring, and clearly this note was added after the live performance, as the chime fades to nothing and there's no audience noise. This effect is amazing, but not what Shostakovich indicated. The score calls for the final note in all instruments to be a single eighth note ending on the first beat of the last full measure, with rests following the eighth note, even for the chimes. The note is accented for instruments holding the same note into the last bar. For the effect Rostropovich ends with, Shostakovich would have written the chime's last note as a full note or at least tied over the rests. In recordings, I favour this added effect to the score, but in live performance, the ringing chime is immediately drowned out by the audience clapping, as happened at de Priest's performance with the Juilliard Orchestra in the fall of 2002, despite his arms being upheld to try to delay the ovation.

Throughout this long, live performance, the LSO are impeccable. The playing is exceptional in technique and intonation, and the musicians clearly feel and understand the song melodies. The solos are wonderful, with no major flaws to comment on. The CD notes, by Andrew Huth, are good but rather short. The cover art, a hard-to-decipher silhouette of Shostakovich hidden by grey abstract overpainting, is strangely and unfortunately very similar to the grey abstract painting on Rostropovich's earlier version of the 11th. The CD is priced quite low, making this an incredible bargain, and adding to it being a truly important and valuable recording. A must for every reader, and top choice for this symphony.

Richard Pleak
[Recording Editor's note: this recording has been nominated for Grammy Awards in two categories: Best Orchestral Recording and Best Engineered Classical Recording.]
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