Shostakovich Ninth and Tenth, with Kirill Petrenko

I have always loved the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. His music is 100% Russian, and could not come from anywhere else. Shostakovich, in his orchestral works, uses the full orchestra, from double basses, to piccolos. Much of the tenth symphony, to which I have just been listening, is loud; much is almost chamber music. I have given up trying to follow the music's structure, and just sit back and enjoy, and be entertained.

Today's traversal was with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Kirill Petrenko. A magnificent performance, with the orchestra sounding almost like real Russians, rather than Germans. The Berlin Digital Concert Hall recording is little short of miraculous; balancing the various parts of a large symphony orchestra where many individual instruments make solo contributions, is no joke. But the Germans have always been good at recording classical music, and its best sound engineers come from a long tradition. Listening through high-quality headphones is almost a must for enjoying the wide-ranging sound and extreme dynamics. Anyway: hats off all round. Along with the eighth symphony, the tenth is one of my favourites. Although in the current era most of my listening is to music of the 18th century, or chamber music and instrumental music; I always make an exception for Shostakovich. I have seven recordings of the tenth symphony, only two of which have gained my personal three stars: Vassily Petrenko with the Liverpool Philharmonic, and Kirill Petrenko (no relation) with the Berlin Philharmonic. I suspect Berlin trumps Liverpool with its superior recorded sound, though Liverpool is available on Naxos, whereas Berlin is hard to get hold of.

Written in 1945, Shostakovich's ninth symphony is in a popular mood; the music at times reminds me of Haydn, or Igor Stravinsky. Coming between the weighty and more complex eighth and tenth symphonies, it has a similar role to Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony between his fifth and seventh. In the recording with Kirill Petrenko and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berlin woodwind really shines. Not my favourite Shostakovich symphony, but well played and well recorded, like the eighth and tenth from the same forces.