Search - Shostakovich, St Petersburg Po, Temirkanov :: Symphony No 7

Temirkanov surpasses himself in a towering reading

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have a timpanist friend who judges all recordings by how well the timpani comes through -- he would hate the opening of Yuri Temirkanov's new Shostakovich Seventh, because the bass lines are buried and blurry, including the timpani. It's the only caveat I can think of, because otherwise this is a splendid reading, exceeding my high expectations from Temirkanov's first recording made for RCA/BMG with the same St. Petersburg Phil. in 1995. Te work seems to have grown in all dimensions since then, with especially tender playing in the lyrical parts, a stronger opening, and a real sense of underlying exuberance. Temirkanov is half a generation older than Gergiev, and he doesn't occupy the same charmed circle of celebrity. Even so, he is a great conductor, and it's a pleasure than Signum seems to be devoting time and money to him.



As far as timings go, three of the four movements remain the same, given half a minute here or there, but the third movement Adagio has been considerably sped up from 19 min. to 13 min. The overall spirit of the work is grandeur without bombast in the climaxes and emotional subtlety elsewhere. Shostakovich was a populist in the seventh, his most sincere patriotic symphony and also his most epic. He went for some blatant effects to lift the crowd, the most famous or infamous being the Nazi march in the first movement that proceeds like Bolero carrying artillery. Temirkanov doesn't shy away from rabble-rousing -- he's more extrovert than Gegiev and Jansons in that respect. why put a lace doily over this kind of exultant vulgarity? For almost the first time I found myself giving in. Elsewhere, as in the grating discords that open the third movement Adagio, Temirkanov keeps the intensity going without becoming lurid. He is masterful in evoking a mysterious atmosphere in the finale as well.



Once scorned as patriotic persiflage, now hailed without reservation, the "Leningrad" Sym. stands somewhere in between those two extremes. Whatever it may be, Temirkanov gives the score one of the best performances it has ever had on disc.



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