Christoph von Dohnányi, The Cleveland Orchestra - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10 / Lutoslawski: Musique funèbre (1992)

Christoph von Dohnányi served as conductor of the famed Cleveland Orchestra from 1984 to 2002 and the rapport between conductor and orchestra produced some of the finest orchestral playing in this country. This recording of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 paired with Witold Lutosl'awski's homage to Bartok, the Musique funèbre offer the reason for the magic of this combination of ensemble and conductor. The Shostakovich is rich in sonorities and in first desk playing and von Dohnányi's control over these mighty forces makes this an immensely intense recording. The sound produced by Cleveland (captured by Decca Engineers) is huge but never less than beautiful. Many consider this to be Shostakovich's finest symphonic work, so well composed is each section of this four movement work, and on a purely academic scale that judgment proves right. For those of us who are deeply moved by each of Shostakovich's works for orchestra and opera it is difficult to select a favorite: the best one is the one you're listening to at the moment! But for sheer excellence of composition married to the brilliance of this performance on this CD this version is among the finest recorded.

Lutosl'awski is now much missed, having died in 1994. In this very important work, the Musique funèbre written between 1954 - 1958 which was written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Béla Bartók, and served as this important 20th century composer's utilization of the 12 tone method of writing. One might think this would mean musical so mechanical that it would be emotional. Such is most definitely not the case with this piece and this performance brings out all the emotional directness that climaxes this fascinating exploration of rhythms and progressions. The Cleveland strings in particular have rarely sounded more lush. This is one of those CDs that belongs with the great recordings of the century!