Mariss Jansons’ EMI Shostakovich symphony cycle took nearly two decades to complete, yet it was mere weeks after the release of the final installment (Symphonies 3 & 14) that this new boxed set appeared, providing an opportunity for collectors to get all 15 symphonies at a bargain price. But don’t let the packaging’s diminutive dimensions fool you: there’s nothing small-scaled about the music making.
Jansons maintains a high standard of excellence from the first recording (Symphony No. 7) to the last with his lean, taut approach that emphasizes musical values as well as emotional impact. This is the middle ground between the sheer hysteria evoked by Kondrashin and Mravinsky and the dark warmth found in Haitink’s Concertgebouw Orchestra recordings. But Jansons’ readings are compelling in their own right, reaching a level of intensity that is often gripping. You can hear this in pretty much all the symphonies, though Nos. 4, 8, 10, 13, & 14 are particular standouts. Rudolf Barshai’s cycle (type Q4581 in Search Reviews) employed one excellent orchestra that he developed into a mean Shostakovich machine. Jansons uses no fewer than eight different ensembles, and it’s remarkable how he maintains interpretive consistency.
The Bavarian Radio Symphony takes the lion’s share of the work, providing six virtuoso performances (Nos. 2-4 and 12-14). The Philadelphia Orchestra plays marvelously in Nos. 10 & 11. The Leningrad/St. Petersburg Philharmonic astounds with its razor-sharp playing in Symphony No. 7; the Pittsburgh Symphony is powerful in No. 8; Vienna surprises with an edgy-sounding No. 5; Berlin provides its usual polish in No. 1; and the London Philharmonic gives a very fine No. 15. Only the relatively ordinary playing of the Oslo Philharmonic in Nos. 6 & 9 falls just short of this high level, but it’s perfectly adequate for the task.
The sound is uniformly excellent, though the Bavarian Radio recordings are in a class by themselves. The set includes all of the fillers from the original releases except in one case–the fine performance of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death that was coupled with No. 10 is now gone. Barshai’s powerful, idiomatic, and impressively single-minded set is still the one to beat, but Jansons’ highly accomplished cycle is a compelling alternative, especially now at bargain price.
