Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Kurt Sanderling, Berlin Symphony Orchestra :: Schostakowitsch: Symphony No. 15

Another Fine Stance on the Shostakovich 15th Symphony

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 11/14/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Amazing to read a concert program and see a fact that startles. In the current LA Philharmonic magazine for the Andrey Boreyko's radiant performance of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 15 there is a note that states the first performance of this symphony here in Los Angeles was under the baton of Kurt Sanderling in 1988! It took seventeen years after Shostakovich composed the work (the premiere conducted by his son Maxim Shostakovich) to reach Los Angeles audiences. I remember being there at the time and hearing this dazzling work fresh under Sanderling's baton. It was a great occasion.



This particular recording was made in 1995 with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (not the Berlin Philharmonic) and while the reading retains the attention to detail for which Sanderling has always been known, the orchestral sound is tinny and not completely responsive. But digging out these old recordings of favorite works adds to the total pleasure of getting to know a symphony well, as well as rustling up memories. Grady Harp, November 05"

Closer to the heart of the mystery

Starry Vere | Silver Lake OH USA | 05/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Swimming with seemingly odd elements, humor, tragedy, Wagner and Rossini quotes, this symphony baffles a lot of people. Shostakovich himself slyly said it was about "the toyshop."

Despite a little roughness in the orchestra (or maybe with the help of it) Sanderling brings us closer than others to the heart of the mystery. A Russian friend of mine said that in parts the 15th sounds like DS is "melting in front of us" and that is what Sanderling's account brings to mind: bits of a life flashing before our ears and, finally, disappearing into the darkness. The strange clockwork ending (which has parallels in the 4th Symphony and 2nd Cello concerto) has never sounded more chilling."

A slow, grim reading of this "soulless" music

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The value of this recording, along with an almost identical interpretation that Sanderling recorded in Cleveland, is that the conductor has a strong viewpoint. The Shostakovich 15th has been considred enigmatic since its premiere in 1971 -- this recording dates from 1978 (not 1995 as Mr. Harp states). Sanderling takes it as fact that the composer made deceptive remarks about his compositions in order to fend off hostility from the Soviet regime. If this symphony is a "toy shop," says Sanderling, quoting the most frequently cited label that Shostakovich supplied, it is a shop of empty marioneetes hanging from hooks on the wall.



In keeping with his viesw that this music is actually about "soullessness," Sanderling drastically slows down the first, third, and last movements, stripping away the veneer of spritely spirits and hijinks -- not that those moods were ever entirely convincing. He finds bleakness in every corner of the symphony, and the performance is entirely convincing to me. Compared to the version with the Clevelanders, the Berlin Symphony -- then situated in East Berlin behind the Iron Curtain -- is rough and ready, but that feels preferable to the high polish of the other recording. The sound is full (not tinny, as Mr. Harp suggests), and only the short timing remains an issue. In every other regard, this reading and its polar opposite, a manic race under Kiril Kondrashin from Dresden (on the Profil label) are must-listens for anyone who wants to pierce the veil of the Fifteenth's subversive meaning."