Shostakovich - Complete Songs and Romances, Volume 3: Early Works (1922-1942)
Two Fables by Ivan Krylov, op. 4[a]; Six Romances on Lyrics by Japanese Poets, op. 21[b]; Four Romances on Words by Alexander Pushkin, op. 46[c]; Ophelia's Song from Music for Shakespeare's Hamlet, op. 32[d]; Cordelia's Ballad[e] and The Fool's Songs[f] from Music for Shakespeare's King Lear, op. 58; Six Romances on Verses of Walter Raleigh, Robert Burns, and William Shakespeare, op. 62[g].
Victoria Evtodieva (soprano)[b], Liudmila Shkirtil (mezzo-soprano)[a,d,e], Mikhail Lukonin (baritone)[c,f], Fyodor Kuznetsov (bass)[g], Yuri Serov (piano).
Delos DE 3309. DDD. TT 62:41.
Recorded St. Catherine Lutheran Church, St. Petersburg, 23 March 1998[g], 10 May 2001[b,c], 25 January 2002[a,d-f].
World premiere recording of arrangements[a,b,d,e].

Delos hereby release the third volume of what is shaping up to be a landmark series in the Shostakovich discography: the first ever survey of the complete songs. Concentrating on the settings for voice and piano, the series extends beyond Neeme Järvi's important collection of the orchestral songs on Deutsche Grammophon (439 860-2; deleted) and has turned out some significant world premiere recordings. The previous releases in the Delos series have received well-deserved praise for their distinguished performances and overall presentation. The series is neatly divided into chronological periods; the first album was dedicated to the songs of the 1950s, the second to those of the final years. The third album now takes up the early songs, embracing the 20-year span (1922 - 1942) that takes us from the composer's student years to the Great Patriotic War. The album also contains a few world premieres that, surprisingly, are acknowledged nowhere by Delos.

The programme begins with the 16-year old Shostakovich's first published vocal setting, the Two Krylov Fables, written while a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Though the vocal style owes a debt to Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich's trademark irony and abrupt transitions abound. In the piano accompaniment, parallels to his Three Fantastic Dances, written the same year, are evident as never before. This is, after all, the world premiere recording of the work in its arrangement for voice and piano. The three previous recordings that we have are of the orchestral version, featuring soprano in the first song and chorus in the second. The recording here also marks the debut of soprano Liudmila Shkirtil in the Delos series. Her clarity of tone and experience in the opera house are much in evidence. In the first song, The Dragonfly and the Ant, she takes the music's quick turns and wide leaps with ease and agility. Compare the constant, robust tones of Galina Borisova in the Rozhdestvensky version (BMG/Melodiya 74321 59058-2; deleted) or the aristocratic inflections of Larissa Dyadkova in the Järvi version. In the second song, The Jackass and the Nightingale, Shkirtil offers a colourful set of characterizations not possible in its original version for chorus. She affects the Jackass's ungainly staccato with whimsical intonations. She then delivers the elegant cantilena of the Nightingale with perfect loveliness. In her readings, these songs come to life as never before.

Shkirtil is also featured in the world premiere recording of Ophelia's Song from the Hamlet stage music of 1932. The music is identical to the orchestral number of the same name found in the fairly often-recorded suite. It is a delightfully offbeat tune that reflects Ophelia's charms as well as her impending madness. Here, Shkirtil emphasizes the lyrical rather than the ironic aspects of the music, where perhaps more of the latter would have been welcome.

Shkirtil is also the soloist in Cordelia's Ballad from the King Lear incidental music. The song is a fine melodic inspiration, a dignified minor key march that can sound proud and ceremonious, as when sung by Yevgeny Nesterenko with pianist Yevgeny Shenderovich (HMV Melodiya ASD 3700; deleted), or mournfully expressive, as in soprano Nina Romanova's broadly paced version with orchestra (Olympia OCD 5006; deleted). By contrast, Shkirtil's relatively fast tempo and soft, pliable tones offer an attractive rendition that plays up no particular angle. The recording, incidentally, is a world premiere of the version for female voice and piano.

The subject matter of the Six Romances on Japanese Poems makes it one of the few vocal settings in the Shostakovich repertoire not susceptible to political ramifications. Lovelorn and morbid, the brief verses take up the subjects of devoted love, lust, parting, hopeless attachment, suicide, and death. In a kind of lyrical experiment, Shostakovich shuns melodic patterns altogether in favour of a freely weaving arioso. Though there is little that is memorable within, the vocal line is nonetheless sensitively tailored to the texts and captures the ardour of youthful love. All previous recordings of the work have been with tenor voice, as indicated in the original score. The songs are sung here by soprano Victoria Evtodieva, whose estimable gifts I praised in my review of her performance of Shostakovich's Blok cycle in Volume 2. Evtodieva possesses a sensitivity and mournfulness that makes a convincing case for these Japanese lyrics from the female perspective. Her ethereal quality at times makes her seem less involved in the text than noted tenor Alexei Maslennikov, whose equally fine interpretations have been recorded in both piano and orchestral versions (Melodiya C10 15501-2 and BMG/Melodiya 7321 59057-2; deleted). Evtodieva nevertheless elicits much depth of feeling. She makes the wide melodic leaps of the first song, Love, seem effortless. She arrives at the final crescendo of the second song, Before the Suicide, with building intensity, and likewise captures the heartfelt tenderness of The First and Last Time.

The melodic stability and individuality of Shostakovich's next cycle, the Pushkin Romances, mark a consolidation of his gifts as a composer of songs. As these settings fall in between the notorious Pravda attacks and the reactionary Fifth Symphony, their texts cry out for multiple interpretation. Much has been written about the reference in the Fifth Symphony finale to the distinctive rhythmic figure in the first song, Resurrection, here brought out with signal prominence by pianist Yuri Serov (the song also contains a phrase that could have provided Galt MacDermott with the opening notes of his hit song, Age of Aquarius). While the text of this poem rails against barbarous fools who tamper with artists' work, the music here and in most of the songs has more of a benevolent than a defiant tone, save the last song.

Among the orchestral versions of these pieces, we have the stout, well-rounded tones of Anatoli Safiulin backed by Rozhdestvensky's conducting of his own outstanding orchestration (BMG Melodiya 74321 59057-2; deleted), and the more steely character of Sergei Leiferkus's bass in the Järvi version, which uses Shostakovich's original scoring. Both are fine performances, but neither captures the intimacy of the versions for voice and piano. Sergei Yakovenko in an early Melodiya release with pianist Mariya Grinberg (C10 05567-8; deleted), boasts a dark, hard-edged bass in a performance of breathless rapture that deserves attention.

In the Delos version, baritone Mikhail Lukonin brings a distinctly pastoral quality to these settings. He takes the verses to heart, projecting them with deep feeling. In the second song, A Jealous Maiden, he exhibits a fine sense of delicacy. The rising and falling phrases of the third song, Anticipation, are moving, and Lukonin convincingly captures the outrage and subsequent resignation in the powerful last song, Stanzas.

Lukonin demonstrates another side of his talents in the ten Fool's Songs from the King Lear stage music. The songs are based on the well-known tune, Jingle Bells, and trot out a quick succession of witty, interlinked melodic variants. It is particularly entertaining to hear a no-nonsense bass like Stanislav Suleimanov submitting to these capricious escapades, especially with the feisty orchestral accompaniment provided by Mikhail Jurowski (Capriccio 10 397). The notable team of Yevgeny Nesterenko and Yevgeny Shenderovich (HMV Melodiya ASD 3700; deleted) offers execution that, while buoyant, is only satisfactory, lacking the jovial edge provided by Mikhail Lukonin. Lukonin is not afraid to personalise these short songs with campy spontaneity. He and Yuri Serov seem to have worked out the timing, delivery and pauses between each of these songs. The result is a delightful blend of irony and elegance. Lukonin is a baritone of impressive flexibility.

The performance of the Six Romances to Words of Raleigh, Shakespeare and Burns, with bass Fyodor Kuznetsov, was previously released on a now-deleted René Gailly disc that I reviewed in DSCH No. 11. As I wrote in that review, Fyodor Kuznetsov's strengths lie in the rich resonance of his basso, and the dramatic intensity he brings to these songs. His vocal heartiness and commanding intensity establish a thoroughly solid and convincing presence. He responds well to the declamatory moodiness and punctuated phrases in the opening Sir Walter Raleigh to his Sonne, and brings a pastoral warmth to the droning caresses of the following O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast. Although I find that he lacks the playfulness called for in some of the satirical songs, such as the final King's Campaign, he shines in Macpherson's Farewell, suggesting that he would make an ideal soloist in the Thirteenth Symphony; the main theme of that symphony's Humour movement derives from this song. Although Kuznetsov's interpretations tend to be on the serious side, they are also guided by an intelligence and musical sensibility that bring these works to life.

In all, this is another handsome edition in the ongoing Delos survey. Pianist Yuri Serov again deserves praise for the impressive authority he demonstrates in conveying the wide range of expression in Shostakovich's songs. His liner notes are informative and well written. The graphics department at Delos deserves mention for the very attractive and distinctive album design of the series.

For the Shostakovich aficionado, indispensable.

Louis Blois
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