Kitajenko shostakovich biography

Surprisingly, Mravinsky performed Symphony No 12 often, and his recordings are the best, perhaps matched only by Kitajenko. His treatment of the adagio, is almost like a liturgy, with beautiful playing from clarinet and bassoon, and an immaculate build-up of tempo. The clarity of the instrumental playing revealing indicates belief in this music, and the allegro theme of victory emerges sincerely.

There is a recording of the premiere issued by the Moscow Conservatoire which would be a historical recommendation, but this is difficult obtain. The string playing in Symphony No 14 is beautifully articulated, the orchestral dynamics are striking and there are two great voices in the soloists, Migunov and Natalia Muradymova, who characterise the varied poems vividly throughout.

This is a great performance, both in the solo singing of De Profundis and in the two duets accompanied by fine percussion, and there is a wonderful cello solo from Mikhail Grinchuk.

Kitajenko shostakovich biography

To my mind this work is more influenced by Musorgsky than Mahler; there are so many different mood changes, from the deathly, to the melodramatic, exaltation, reflection, mockery and the atmosphere of the shocking Der Tod des Dichters. Based on this recording, it would appear that Muradymova, educated at the Urals State Conservatoire and the Stanislavsky Opera in Moscow, has great prospects.

The texts are all sung in Russian. In the adagio, there is some strikingly fine playing from funereal brass, solos from violin and cello intoning a plaintive melody, heart-rending, like the breathing of a dying man, while the allegretto marks a return to life. This is a cheeky parody, presenting Shostakovich as a joker, cocking a sardonic smile at life.

To sum up: the Kondrashin cycle is of great importance and highly recommendable, notably so in the case of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth. He has a penchant for taking a fast pace in order to bring out the drama of the music and this is not necessarily a weakness, but there is also the question of the standard of playing, with problems in the reeds and strings of Soviet orchestras in the sixties, albeit that the problems in recording have mostly been overcome through remastering.

I think the great merit of this cycle by Sladkovsky and his musicians is that they perform them as classics, as musical masterpieces by one of the great 20th century composers. This new cycle can be judged all round as one of the best performed, best interpreted and best recorded available and can as such be highly recommended. Gregor Tassie.

Donate and keep us afloat. All Naxos reviews. All Hyperion reviews. Orchestral playing is outstanding, featuring particularly powerful, solid brass. MDG also has an ongoing project conducted by Roman Kofman, but colleague David Hurwitz succeeded in warning me off of that one. Your guide to classical music online. Artistic Quality:. Sound Quality:.

Recording Details:. In the Store is also outstanding in its portrayal of unending queues, unceasing weariness. The performance is somewhat disconnected, more a series of scenes than a unified whole, but that is actually a legitimate approach to the music, and the vocals are suitably pointed and trenchant even though the chorus is not always as weighty as it could be.

The two soloists thoroughly explore Lorelei to fine effect, and bass Arutjun Kotchinian is especially impressive in O Delvig, Delvig! Crisp and beautifully played, with outstanding percussion, this is a sophisticated performance whose consistency in this oddly witty, captivating work makes for a thrilling but suitably puzzling conclusion. Posted by The Infodad Team at No comments:.

Post a Comment. Older Post Home. In , he assumed the post of Principal Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic. These recordings have been awarded with numerous international prizes and are considered important reference recordings. Chandos Records is one of the world's premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems.

The company has pioneered the idea of the 'series' and proudly includes series of such composers as Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Parry, Walton, Grainger, Berkeley and Bridge.