Search - Bolshoi Theater Orchestra :: Shostakovich: The Golden Age (Complete Ballet)

It's a hoot

CH | Malaysia | 09/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This release precedes the complete original score premiered by Gennadi Rozhdestvesnky on Chandos. Taken from the Bolshoi production of the ballet, which was assembled from a confused set of scores of the original with numbers missing, it is not the definitive version of the ballet that the Chandos one is. However, the performance is far superior. This is a hugely enjoyable, lively, campy performance that is sharp and witty. The sort of flexibility and sweep that Simonov applies is a stark contrast to the mechanical execution and dull, unsmiling performance uncharacteristically dished out by Rozhdestvesnky, whose only saving grace is its current status as only available full original version and a good recorded sound, efficiently performed. If you want something more enjoyable then this Russian Disc one is far, far higher on the entertainment scale. Just compare the lovely sweep in the Tahiti Trot, the wry humour in the opening Folk Festival with the audacious wrong-note trombone solo, or the decadent execution of the Blues, a number taken from the composer's Jazz Suite and padded in here, but a performance to beat any existing today. If completism is not your cause, then this Golden Age is far more enjoyable. While it contains a number of external sources like the two Adagios for Shostakovich's piano concertos, if you have seen the video of the production you would understand why they are there and why it was such a wonderful inclusion."