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10 May 2006, 20:16
Does this have anything to do with Shostakovich at all?
Bashmet and Richter's recording of his final opus beats any galop.
Bashmet and Richter's recording of his final opus beats any galop.
19 May 2006, 16:43
Computer formatted-->no more Shostakovich symphonies.
Moving to a new house with no cable connection --> no more torrent.
Moving to a new house with no cable connection --> no more torrent.
22 May 2006, 20:22
I have noticed that Shostakovich in the first movement (about 5 minutes in) of the 12th Symphony quotes Borodin from the first movement of his 2nd Symphony (the theme from about 1 minute and 30 in and later at about 4 minutes in). Such a wonderful theme. It appears the rest of the said Borodin symphony is more or less a conglomerate of overtures!
22 May 2006, 23:36
I've always thought Shostakovich's 12th is one of the weakest of his symphonies. A lot of it sounds like rather over-extended film music. Even his 11th is better. Hell, even his 3rd is better!
23 May 2006, 16:24
Mozart's 20th Symphony could quite easily wipe the floor with Shosty's 12th, but Shosty's 8th murders anything!
23 May 2006, 19:04
Quote:Mozart's 20th Symphony could quite easily wipe the floor with Shosty's 12th, but Shosty's 8th murders anything!
Agreed, except his 10th! Now there's a pinnacle of symphonic art; one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century and Shosty's masterpiece!
23 May 2006, 19:15
Don't you just find it quite intriguing to look where a composer might have gained his influence from and where any quotations and themes were taken? I'm rather sure that Shostakovich's reworking of Boris Godunov had a large impact on how he approached his music, working with the dark as his best asset, which is arguably utterly correct, look at every Adagio from his symphonies - sheer genius.
23 May 2006, 19:24
I agree. I think Mussorgsky had a huge influence on the development of Russian music; even more than people realise. His rather idiosyncratic handling of harmony, and his obsession with mysterious, dark and introspective emotions, were tremendously important. And he was able to drink heroically large quantities of vodka. What a genius!
23 May 2006, 20:06
I am going to have to get a portrait of Mussorgsky to hang on the wall near Marx, Mozart, Darwin and Hegel! My Wall will be a wall of fame, and will stink of lovely tobacco fumes...
21 Dec 2006, 03:46
I recently saw the 9th at the Opera Haus...quite amazing (as well as his Piano Concerto No. 2).
The concert guide says that Stalin wanted it to be some sort of massive, Beethoven-esque symphony and celebration of the Red Army's victory over the Nazis (as it was finished in 1945).
The concert guide says that Stalin wanted it to be some sort of massive, Beethoven-esque symphony and celebration of the Red Army's victory over the Nazis (as it was finished in 1945).
04 Feb 2008, 05:58
mmm...looking forward to Shosty's 8th concert by the SSO.
According to the program "Shostakovich’s Eighth is a requiem, secretly dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s war on his own country."
The chorus finale of the 3rd is quite rousing, while keeping a degree of intriguing dissonance...
According to the program "Shostakovich’s Eighth is a requiem, secretly dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s war on his own country."
The chorus finale of the 3rd is quite rousing, while keeping a degree of intriguing dissonance...
04 Feb 2008, 13:52
Quote:According to the program "Shostakovich’s Eighth is a requiem, secretly dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s war on his own country."
I don't suppose they gave any source for this claim? And please don't say "Solomon Volkov's book".
Quote:The chorus finale of the 3rd is quite rousing, while keeping a degree of intriguing dissonance...
Shostakovich's 3rd is a POS, the culmination of his unfortunate 'avant-garde' phase.
05 Feb 2008, 04:50
Quote:I don't suppose they gave any source for this claim? And please don't say "Solomon Volkov's book".
Of course they don't source anything. And I'm sure it would give the primarily bourgeois-liberal audience a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
Quote:Shostakovich's 3rd is a POS
Piece of shit? I beg to differ. It may have been far from his greatest symphony, but it certainly has it's merits.
Quote:the culmination of his unfortunate 'avant-garde' phase.
What about his 4th? The 3rd appears almost conventional compared to his 4th.
05 Feb 2008, 10:43
Quote:What about his 4th? The 3rd appears almost conventional compared to his 4th.
Actually, his 4th is not what I would call 'avant-garde' - it's actually his most Mahlerian symphony, and compared to his 2nd and 3rd is harmonically almost conventional. The 4th represents something of a retreat from the avant-garde, and his 5th (possibly his most banal symphony, with the possible exception of his 12th) completed that process. In other words, when he received the official criticism of his opera 'Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk', it only propelled him faster in a direction in which he was already travelling.
05 Feb 2008, 14:23
What could you recommend from Shostakovich's work as a good introduction to his music?
05 Feb 2008, 15:29
Symphony No.10 (his masterpiece)
The Gadfly (lots of good tunes)
Piano Concerto No.2
Violin Concerto No.1
Piano Quintet (it won the Stalin Prize in 1941, and is said to be "in five movements, of which there are seven", since the first audience demanded that two of the movements be repeated)
Symphony No.15 (difficult to get into, but amazing once you do)
and just take it from there....
Exploring Shostakovich's music is an amazing journey, one that you'll never forget. I wish you luck, and yes, I envy you.
The Gadfly (lots of good tunes)
Piano Concerto No.2
Violin Concerto No.1
Piano Quintet (it won the Stalin Prize in 1941, and is said to be "in five movements, of which there are seven", since the first audience demanded that two of the movements be repeated)
Symphony No.15 (difficult to get into, but amazing once you do)
and just take it from there....
Exploring Shostakovich's music is an amazing journey, one that you'll never forget. I wish you luck, and yes, I envy you.
07 Feb 2008, 00:41
I recently ripped my friends' complete Shostakovich String Quartets by the Brodsky Quartet. Where should I start?
A wonderful concerto, though apparently Shosty saw little artistic merit in it! His Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings also possesses breathtaking moments, especially Shosty's 1958 recording of it.
Quote:Piano Concerto No.2
A wonderful concerto, though apparently Shosty saw little artistic merit in it! His Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings also possesses breathtaking moments, especially Shosty's 1958 recording of it.
07 Feb 2008, 00:50
Quote:I recently ripped my friends' complete Shostakovich String Quartets by the Brodsky Quartet. Where should I start?
Try No.8.
Quote:A wonderful concerto, though apparently Shosty saw little artistic merit in it! His Concerto for piano, trumpet and strings also possesses breathtaking moments, especially Shosty's 1958 recording of it.
Yeah, his 2nd Piano Concerto is a bit like Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture in that respect; wildly popular with the public, but despised by the composer himself.
Still, it's exciting and has some good tunes. What's wrong with that?
Oh, and his two Cello Concertos are excellent.
28 Sep 2009, 23:15
Sorry to bring to life this old thread, but it was the most appropiate place to post this news.
Quote:City’s First Shostakovich Statue Unveiled by Son
A statue of Dmitry Shostakovich, thought to be the first to be erected in his hometown, was unveiled by the composer’s son Maxim on Friday near the Grand Canyon shopping mall in the north of St. Petersburg.
“It’s a difficult job to please the relatives of great people but this [has happened in this] case,” conductor Maxim Shostakovich told ITAR TASS at the gala ceremony.
“The monument has pleased my soul,” he said. The composer’s grandchildren were also in attendance.
Mussa Ekzekov, whose idea it was to build the city’s first major monument to one of its most famous sons, told ITAR TASS he would like it to become “a center of gravity for the city’s residents.”
Music by the composer will be piped quietly through speakers in the small landscaped park near the statue from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Ekzekov, who is the general director of property developer Solomon, which manages the nearby Grand Canyon mall, told ITAR TASS that he hopes that live music concerts will be given in the park in future.
The two-meter tall bronze monument, on the corner of Ulitsa Shostakovicha and Prospekt Engelsa between Prospekt Prosveshcheniya metro station and Grand Canyon, was revealed to the public on Friday — the 103rd anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The statue, which was sculpted by Konstantin Garapach, depicts the composer seated in contemplation surrounded by sheet music.
“You can feel at once it shows [my] father listening to music and thinking about his native city, homeland and countrymen,” Maxim Shostakovich said.
One of the 20th century’s greatest composers, Shostakovich lived through the siege of Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was then known, during World War II. It was during the 900-day siege that he wrote the morale-boosting “Leningrad Symphony” in honor of the city.
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