Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko - Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 15 (2012/2015) [Hi-Res]

These two hugely contrasting symphonies come from the opposite ends of Shostakovich’s life and career. The Second Symphony was written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik October Revolution. Its advanced idiom of experimental textures and abstract effects can perhaps be best described as organised musical chaos. The Fifteenth was Shostakovich’s last symphony and is filled with remarkable contrasts, from the rollicking quotes from Rossini’s William Tell Overture and eerie references to Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and Tristan und Isolde, to the last and perhaps most imaginative of the composer’s symphonic passacaglias.

Widely admired as having ‘superlative standards’ (BBC Music Magazine) and going ‘from strength to strength’ (Gramophone), Vasily Petrenko’s Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Shostakovich symphonic cycle has gained critical acclaim from every quarter, and each new release generates its own not inconsiderable gravitational field. Volume 7 cleverly pairs the ‘difficult’ but remarkably dramatic Second Symphony with the simultaneously rousing, enigmatic and emotionally draining Fifteenth in performances which once again set new standards.

“Petrenko's hallmark of winning careful but always meaningful articulation from his Liverpool players is as apparent in the outlines of the woodwind and brass uproar at the centre of the early collage as it is in the last Symphony's skeletal solos...As so often, Petrenko shows the deepest sensitivity in going straight to the heart of the matter, and forward sound-balances for violins and celesta especially serve him well.” (BBC Music Magazine)

„Vasily Petrenko makes the piece [Second Symphony] remarkably palatable, taking some liberties with dynamics…and the choral finale is really pretty enjoyable. He actually succeeds in making the dawn of the Socialist Realist paradise kind of plausible…you might even want to repeat the experience now and again. …Petrenko’s bold attack on the opening movement [Fifteenth Symphony] and very swift account of the scherzo produces a reading of high contrasts, strong in biting wit.“ (David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com)

“the accepts the symphony's puzzles and paradoxes, playing down its moments of aggression...and highlighting, instead, its erratic bursts of wonder and its uneasy sense of bewilderment. I don't mean to suggest that Petrenko is in any way weak-willed. There's plenty of gravity in the second movement...In the end, though, you're likely to remember this performance for its moments of disorientation...another splendid release in an exceptional cycle.” (International Record Review)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Recorded at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England on 14th June 2011 (tracks 1-3),
and on 26th and 27th October 2010 (tracks 4-7)
Produced and edited by Andrew Walton (tracks 1-3) and Peter Newble (tracks 4-7)
Engineered by Mike Clements (tracks 1-3) and Andrew Lang (tracks 4-7)

Digitally remastered