Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: Allegretto / Allegro non troppo
2. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: Allegro (moto pepetuo)
3. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: Lento
4. Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: Finale
5. Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (The First of May), Op. 20

Disc 2:

1. Symphony No. 2 in B flat major (To October), Op. 14
2. Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141: Allegretto
3. Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141: Adagio-Lento-Adagio
4. Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141: Allegretto
5. Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141: Adagio-Allegretto

Disc 3:

1. Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43: 1. Allegretto poco moderato - Presto
2. Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43: 2. Moderato con moto
3. Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43: 3. Largo - Allegro

Disc 4:

1. Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47: 1st movement, Moderato
2. Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47: 2nd movement, Allegretto (Scherzo)
3. Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47: 3rd movement, Largo
4. Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47: 4th movement, Allegro non troppo
5. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70: 1. Allegro
6. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70: 2. Moderato
7. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70: 3. Presto
8. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70: 4. Largo
9. Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, Op. 70: 5. Allegretto

Disc 5:

1. Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54: Largo
2. Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54: Allegro
3. Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54: Presto
4. Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112 (The Year 1917 - in Memory of Lenin): No. 1, "Revolutionary Petrograd"
5. Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112 (The Year 1917 - in Memory of Lenin): No. 2, "Razliv"
6. Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112 (The Year 1917 - in Memory of Lenin): No. 3, "Aurora"
7. Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112 (The Year 1917 - in Memory of Lenin): No. 4, "The Dawn of Humanity"

Disc 6:

1. Symphony No. 7 in C major (Leningrad), Op. 60: No. 1, "War"
2. Symphony No. 7 in C major (Leningrad), Op. 60: No. 2, "Memories"
3. Symphony No. 7 in C major (Leningrad), Op. 60: No. 3, "My Native Field"
4. Symphony No. 7 in C major (Leningrad), Op. 60: No. 4, "Victory"

Disc 7:

1. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): I. Adagio - Allegro Non Troppo - Adagio
2. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): II. Allegretto
3. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): III. Allegro Non Troppo
4. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): IV. Largo
5. Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65 (Stalingrad): V. Allegretto

Disc 8:

1. Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93: I. Moderato
2. Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93: II. Allegro
3. Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93: III. Allegretto
4. Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93: IV. Andante - Allegro

Disc 9:

1. Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905): No. 1, "Palace Square"
2. Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905): No. 2, "Ninth of January"
3. Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905): No. 3, "Eternal Memory"
4. Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103 (The Year 1905): No. 4, "The Toscin"

Disc 10:

1. Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 (Babi Yar): No. 1, "Babiy Yar"
2. Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 (Babi Yar): No. 2, "Humour" (tune from song Op. 62/3)
3. Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 (Babi Yar): No. 3, "In the Store"
4. Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 (Babi Yar): No. 4, "Fears"
5. Symphony No. 13 in B flat minor, Op. 113 (Babi Yar): No. 5, "A Career"

Disc 11:

1. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 1, "De Profundis"
2. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 2, "Malaguena"
3. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 3, "Lorelei"
4. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 4, "The Suicide"
5. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 5, "On Watch"
6. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 6, "Madam, look!"
7. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 7, "In prison - At the Sante Jail"
8. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 8, "The Zaporozhian Cossack's Reply to the Sultan"
9. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 9, "O Delvig, Delvig!"
10. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 10, "The Death of the Poet"
11. Symphony No. 14 for soprano, bass, strings & percussion, Op. 135: No. 11, "Conclusion"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #235560 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-19
• Number of discs: 11
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Newly repackaged in a space-saving, super-bargain box, the Naxos Shostakovich cycle may entice shoppers looking to acquire the 15 symphonies cheaply and all at once. Certain performances are better than others. The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, 10th, and 12th require more dynamism and heft than the Czecho-Slovak Symphony Orchestra give Ladislav Slovák, notwithstanding marvelous first-desk solos. By contrast, the caustic wit and slippery chamberlike qualities of Nos. 9 and 15 are expertly realized. Bass Peter Mikulas and soprano Magdaléna Hajóssyová enliven and brilliantly characterize texts in the two "song symphonies," Nos. 13 and 14. Slovák, in turn, revels in the disjunctive sound worlds of the Second and Third, and traverses the Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, and 11th with an eagle-eyed overview of their sprawling canvasses. You shouldn't be without key individual recordings like Bernstein's 1959 New York Philharmonic Fifth, Berglund's 11th, or Haitink's 13th, and Rudolf Barshai's bargain cycle on Brilliant Classics offers greater sonic impact and more personalized conducting. Still and all, the present set's finest moments are worth the modest investment. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews

Rough-Edged, but Compelling
I like this set. I'm not about to claim that it's perfectly played or beautiful to listen to; Inbal on Denon, Haitink on Decca and Rostropovich on Teldec all command better - and more opulent sounding - orchestras than the Slovak Radio Symphony. But there is a certain raw honesty about these Naxos performances that I find tremendously appealing. The Shostakovich symphonies, after all is said, aren't 'haute cuisine' music. They reflect some of humankind's ugliest experiences and their beauties always come packaged in scar tissue. For that reason, I've always enjoyed the 'rough and ready' Shostakovich played by east european and Russian orchestras: the performances just seem more truthful. That's the case here, although I intend no disrespect toward Inbal, Haitink and Rostropovich (especially the latter who was, of course, a great friend of the composer). But Ladislav Slovak has his own Shostakovich credentials and they are solid. He worked in the 1950s with the great Yevgeny Mravinsky at the Leningrad Philharmonic when it was one of the world's greatest orchestras. Mravinsky was one of Shostakovich's favorite conductors and he performed most of these symphonies, some for the first time, and many under Shostakovich's direct supervision. So Slovak saw a lot and up close. Nevertheless, Slovak's performances aren't slavish copies of Mravinsky. He has his own ideas. For example, listen to the richly barbed irony Slovak projects in symphonies 1 and 9, or how well he conveys eloquence, without pomposity, in the problematic 7th ('Leningrad') symphony. Or listen to Slovak's tight and cogent performances of two of Shostakovich's most fascinatingly diffuse scores, symphonies 4 and 11 ("The Year 1905"). In short, Slovak is never less than thought-provoking and if his orchestra were better, I think his achievement would be more widely acclaimed. As it is, the orchestra plays quite competently, with particularly alert and characterful woodwinds (usually; they miscalculate the magical opening of the last movement of Symphony 13). If the orchestra suffers from a consistent fault, it's that there aren't enough strings to sound comfortable playing "above the stave," as the British say. No matter; the imagination, intensity & spirit of these performances are what count with me. In fact, I think there's only one out-and-out failure in the set: a performance of Symphony 12 that's just too slow and heavy, making a tedious piece seem even more tedious than usual. (Mravinsky played this symphony at breakneck speed; surely the only way to make it endurable!) I wish I could say that the digital sound quality is consistently fine, but it varies too much from performance to performance. It's never less than good, but variable. Still, don't get me wrong: warts and all, this set's a real bargain. Eleven (11) cds come packaged in a compact box with an extensive booklet that includes full texts and translations. Final word: cheap without quality is false economy. In spite of the shortcomings I've mentioned, there's real quality here.