Mark Wigglesworth’s Shostakovich cycle has been remarkably consistent, and on the whole very fine. This release includes the composer’s first three symphonies, a feat made possible not because of unusually quick tempos (as with Kondrashin on Melodiya), but because of BIS’s unusually generous disc timings—more than 81 minutes. Only the Fifteenth Symphony is still missing to complete the cycle, and putting the two least popular works (Nos. 2 and 3) together with the First makes sense, both as a marketing tool and as a way to track the composer’s musical development. The performances however, while good, are not the best in the series.
The First Symphony begins with a light and balletic account of the first movement. This works quite well in the second subject, which after all is ballet music, but the opening march music needs to be more heavily accented. As the performance proceeds, though, it comes into its own, culminating in a truly moving slow movement followed by a very powerful account of the finale. It leaves a strong impression. The Second Symphony goes very well, but then it’s such a weird piece that it almost always does, if it gets played at all. This performance deserves credit for attempting to use a real siren where Shostakovich asks for one (sound sample below), although I think Shostakovich had in mind more of a factory whistle sound than this. Still, Wigglesworth gets an “A” for the attempt.
The Third Symphony, on the other hand, comes as something of a letdown. The problem isn’t Wigglesworth’s basic interpretation, or the choral singing, which is impressive in both vocal symphonies. In this particular work, though, the brass soloists sound less than fully committed. The trombone recitative before the choral entry needs to be gutsier, and the trumpet at the end doesn’t top the rest of the orchestra as it must. Part of the problem may be recorded sound that comes across as slightly low-level and cavernous. It’s certainly not bad, mind you, but it’s not one of BIS’s better SACDs. Good then, but not great, and mainly for collectors of this particular cycle.
