Track Listing

1. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Overture
2. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Contredanse
3. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Folk Feast (National Holiday)
4. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Interlude
5. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Barrel-Organ Waltz
6. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Galop
7. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Introduction (Prelude)
8. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Romance
9. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Intermezzo
10. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Nocturne
11. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Scene
12. The Gadfly, suite from the film score, Op. 97a (assembled by Atovmyan): Finale
13. Five Days - Five Nights, suite from the film score, Op. 111a (assembled by Atovmyan): Introduction
14. Five Days - Five Nights, suite from the film score, Op. 111a (assembled by Atovmyan): Dresden in Ruins
15. Five Days - Five Nights, suite from the film score, Op. 111a (assembled by Atovmyan): The Liberation of Dresden
16. Five Days - Five Nights, suite from the film score, Op. 111a (assembled by Atovmyan): Interlude
17. Five Days - Five Nights, suite from the film score, Op. 111a (assembled by Atovmyan): Finale

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23159 in Music
• Released on: 1997-02-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

What a pleasant surprise!
It is always a very pleasant surprise to have one's expectations so notably exceeded. As to the composer, I confess to being a great fan of Shostakovich and here, he seized upon a little known and tragic story ("The Gadfly," by E.L. Voynich) which renders a first-rate account of people in revolution and a society in upheaval -- and the music that Shostakovich composed for the film in this instance is just that: revolutionary. I believe that he composed nothing finer in all his filmscores. This achievement is historic and the "Introduction (Prelude, track 7)" may, in fact, just be the finest piece of melodic Classical Music ever written. It has that perfect astonishing Russian blend of Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Balakirev, Stravinsky and maybe even a little of Rachmaninoff! And that comment leads me to the rendition itself - I was astonished as to what a fine job the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (Theodore Kuchar, conducting) did with this work. It is an historic achievement and I was very pleased at the quality of the sound on this CD (it's a DDD recording from 1995 at Kiev). The "Suite from Five Days -- Five Nights" (the second composition on this CD) is also a fine work and a perfect complement to "The Gadfly." My only reccommendation beyond what I have said so far would be to read the book as you listen to this recording which lends considerable enhancement to both media.

Good CD
This is currently one of my favorite CD's. I admit I have not heard any other performances of the Gadfly Suite, but THIS one is good in any case. The violin and 'cello solos are well done, too. Also, the Gadfly Suite is generally considered to be among Shostakovich's better film scores.

The Gadfly music - treasure unrevealed
Since I have only heard another recording on the score on the radio I won't go into the quality of the conductor/orchestra which in my ears sound pretty good. It's just that this music score (The Gadfly) is one of the treasure of soundtrack music and I wonder how it comes and is not played more often. Listening more carefully I picked some lines that reminded me of some Rota scores, one of my favourite soundtrack composers. This is great music and at this modest price everybody should listen to it.