Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Andre Previn, José Serebrier :: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5; Music from the Film "Hamlet"

Great symphony, truncated fill-up

[Insert Name Here] | Jacksonville, Florida, USA | 01/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the other reviewer said, you buy this CD for the symphony - because the suite from "Hamlet" is missing its first movement, and no explanation for this is given in the brief notes accompanying the recording. The suite is mislabeled in the notes, too, as the composer's Op. 116, when Shostakovich gave that number to the complete film score, and the suite is logged as Op. 116a. But let's get back to the main event: Previn and the LSO offer an alternately gutsy and yearning account of the symphony, cutting loose when required in the kind of raucous way that Shostakovich often needs, and the sound quality is outstanding considering its provenance."

Superlative

David Saemann | 01/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I believe this was Previn's first recording with the London Symphony, back in 1965. This period yielded a bumper crop of fine recordings with this team, including Nielsen's First Symphony, Scheherazade, and Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony. This is as fine a Shostakovich Fifth as I have ever heard. The recording was made some years before the composer's revelation of the work's hidden program in "Testimony." Nevertheless, Previn's middle-of-the-road stance toward interpretive issues yields a performance that is highly compelling even in relation to what the composer had to say. And I never have heard any orchestra play better than the Londoners do on this CD. The sound engineering is demonstration class, too. Serebrier's suite from "Hamlet" makes an interesting fill up, with good playing and equally realistic recording. But you buy this disc for the symphony."