Search - Shostakovich, Inbal, Frankfort Radio :: Symphony 5

A sober but powerful performance

Zanca Paolo | Padova, Italy | 07/19/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shostakovich's fifth symphony surely ranks among the great symphonic masterpieces. In this revolutionary composition the Author transfigures the emphasis and the richness of feelings typical of the late-romantic composers (mainly Mahler, Bruckner and Ciaikovsky) in a new epic and collective pathos. Rather than representing the gestures of an individual, as in Beethoven's or Mahler's heroic symphonies, the music tells about the Russian people suffering under Stalin. Anyway it is not a nihilist music: the aspiration for a better life is clearly depicted in the symphony.
I think that Inbal's performance is dry but at the same time very effective in conveying the power and the novelty of the music. Thanks to the excellent timbre of the Denon recording and the magnificent brass section of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the orchestral climaxes are probably the most impressive I have heard for this symphony. I warmly suggest this CD!"