COMPOSERS: Shostakovich
LABELS: Chandos
WORKS: Ballet Suite No. 1; Ballet Suite No. 2; Ballet Suite No. 3; Ballet Suite No. 4; Ballet Suite No. 5; Festive Overture; Katerina Ismailova Suite
PERFORMER: Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
CATALOGUE NO: CHAN 7000/1 DDD (1988/89)
In the words of Shostakovich the Festive Overture of 1954 apparently conveys ‘the enthusiasm of peaceful labour at the construction projects of the new five-year plan’. But much here consists of compilations made chiefly in 1949-53 using the 1935 ballet The Limpid Stream and other, mainly earlier, sources. With the exception of some incisive parodies in the 1931 ballet The Bolt and surviving ambiguities in the 1963 opera Katerina Ismailova, this is all uncharacteristically two-dimensional: sometimes fun, but far from the grim humour of the 1931 Hypothetically Murdered. Keith Potter
Shostakovich: Ballet Suite No. 1; Ballet Suite No. 2; Ballet Suite No. 3; Ballet Suite No. 4; Ballet Suite No. 5; Festive Overture; Katerina Ismailova Suite
In the words of Shostakovich the Festive Overture of 1954 apparently conveys ‘the enthusiasm of peaceful labour at the construction projects of the new five-year plan’. But much here consists of compilations made chiefly in 1949-53 using the 1935 ballet The Limpid Stream and other, mainly earlier, sources. With the exception of some incisive parodies in the 1931 ballet The Bolt and surviving ambiguities in the 1963 opera Katerina Ismailova, this is all uncharacteristically two-dimensional: sometimes fun, but far from the grim humour of the 1931 Hypothetically Murdered. Keith Potter
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:32 pm