Dmitry Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13 `Babi Yar` (Vasily Petrenko, Naxos)

Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 in 1962. The climax of his 'Russian period' and, in its scoring for bass soloist, male chorus and orchestra, among the most Mussorgskian of his works, it attracted controversy through its settings of poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko (the 'Russian Bob Dylan' of his day) not least the first movement, where the poet underlines the plight of Jews in Soviet society. The other movements are no less pertinent in their observations on the relationship between society and the individual. This is the final release in Vasily Petrenko's internationally acclaimed symphonic cycle.

The cycle of Shostakovich symphonies from Britain's Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko has been widely praised, and this version of one of the composer's sharpest-edged works of protest will not disrupt the general trend. Here, as elsewhere, the reading is a sort of combination of British and Russian elements. The Huddersfield Choral Society probably does not have the sound Shostakovich imagined for this Mussorgskian work. But Petrenko catches the suppressed fury that often comes through only in Russian performances of Shostakovich. The work sets poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a controversial enough move even during the cultural Thaw year of 1962. Each approaches the question of anti-Semitism in Russia through a different lens, and Petrenko is well acquainted with the moods of the work: the sharp satire, gathering anger, of the "Humor" movement (track 2), depicting the death of humor; the exquisite portrayal of Soviet drudgery in "At the Store" (track 3); the commemoration of the Nazi massacre at Babi Yar, Ukraine, aided by locals (track 1). Against the clear choral sound Petrenko sets a classic Russian bass, Alexander Vinogradov, with compelling results. A fine entry in Petrenko's series, worthy of standing beside his recording of the still grimmer Symphony No. 14, Op. 135.               

"Shostakovich's Symphony No 13, setting poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, was given its UK premiere by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1971, so there is something satisfyingly symmetrical that it forms the final chapter in Vasily Petrenko's Naxos cycle of all 15 symphonies with the same orchestra. This performance lives up to the high expectations raised by the previous discs in this series: the orchestra, now invested by Petrenko with a true Russian bite and resonance, lives and breathes the music in brilliance and brooding edginess and energy. Harnessing the men'svoices of the RLP Choir and the Huddersfield Choral Society, the interpretation echoes the music s powerfully expressed protest against Soviet anti-Semitism, and sharply focuses on Shostakovich's subversive, humanitarian stance against the Soviet society of his day, heightened by the intensity of the bass protagonist, Alexander Vinogradov. With Petrenko's ear for detail and his instincts for symphonic shape and dramatic flux, this is a disc that stands comparison with the generally acknowledged classic 1962 recording by Kirill Kondrashin (recently re-released on Praga), and it does so with pungent emotional force. **** "--Telegraph, 10/11/14


Dmitry Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13 `Babi Yar` (Vasily Petrenko, Naxos)
(256 kbps, cover art included)