Shostakovich at The Sage
The Sage has marked the Shostakovich centenary with a short but intense series of concerts (4 in 6 days) by the Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Each concert consisted of a first half of music by Prokofiev and a second half given over to one of Shostakovich’s symphonies.
The Prokofiev pieces consisted of the suite of music from Romeo and Juliet; the first symphony and the first and second violin concertos, with Vadim Repin as the excellent soloist.
The four Shostakovich symphonies featured were the fifth, his best-known and most accessible, the eighth, the tenth and the fifteenth (his last).
The eighth I think I enjoyed the most with the dark intensity of its inner movements. The tenth was the one I knew the best but the orchestra were not on their best form for this (they had just had a weekend on Tyneside) and there were a distracting number of mistakes and cracked notes. The fifth is a glorious and thrilling piece.
The fifteenth is strange: the first movement is very light and jolly, with its repeated excursions into the William Tell overture. The last movement is much more serious and rather weird. Repeated quotes from Wagner (some music from the Ring and a bit of Tristan) seemed to be a mistake: to quote both a greater composer and greater works runs the real danger of making the composer’s own work seem rather inconsequential. The ending of the symphony is wonderful however, strange exotic percussion figures over long quiet sustained notes for the strings.
With the one exception I have noted, the orchestral playing was outstanding: a big sound and with a slightly raw quality to it which was ideal for this music. I have had my doubts about Gergiev’s conducting in the past (particularly in Verdi and Wagner) but this was music that suited him perfectly.
Each concert was received with great enthusiasm by an almost capacity audience. This series was quite a coup for the Sage and something of a tour de force for both orchestra and conductor.
Each concert consisted of a first half of music by Prokofiev and a second half given over to one of Shostakovich’s symphonies.
The Prokofiev pieces consisted of the suite of music from Romeo and Juliet; the first symphony and the first and second violin concertos, with Vadim Repin as the excellent soloist.
The four Shostakovich symphonies featured were the fifth, his best-known and most accessible, the eighth, the tenth and the fifteenth (his last).
The eighth I think I enjoyed the most with the dark intensity of its inner movements. The tenth was the one I knew the best but the orchestra were not on their best form for this (they had just had a weekend on Tyneside) and there were a distracting number of mistakes and cracked notes. The fifth is a glorious and thrilling piece.
The fifteenth is strange: the first movement is very light and jolly, with its repeated excursions into the William Tell overture. The last movement is much more serious and rather weird. Repeated quotes from Wagner (some music from the Ring and a bit of Tristan) seemed to be a mistake: to quote both a greater composer and greater works runs the real danger of making the composer’s own work seem rather inconsequential. The ending of the symphony is wonderful however, strange exotic percussion figures over long quiet sustained notes for the strings.
With the one exception I have noted, the orchestral playing was outstanding: a big sound and with a slightly raw quality to it which was ideal for this music. I have had my doubts about Gergiev’s conducting in the past (particularly in Verdi and Wagner) but this was music that suited him perfectly.
Each concert was received with great enthusiasm by an almost capacity audience. This series was quite a coup for the Sage and something of a tour de force for both orchestra and conductor.
posted by Alnwickian at 11:56 am
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